In Baguio, cases of rape, suicide up amid pandemic

BAGUIO CITY—Social workers, psychologists and the police have opened hotlines and formed response teams to help stem the rise of suicide and rape cases during the second year of the coronavirus pandemic.

Nineteen suicide cases, most of them committed by those age 15 to 24, had been recorded from January to May by the city health services office (CHSO), said Ricky Ducas, a nurse overseeing the CHSO mental health program.

At the onset of the pandemic last year, government doctors recorded 30 suicide cases, which was uncommonly high for the city, Ducas said in a briefing on Wednesday.

The CHSO has put up telephone lines manned by counselors. It also offered to train local volunteers.

The city council on Monday began discussing a resolution that would help create volunteer mental health campaigns based on plans put together by medical professionals in the government and in the private sector.

In 2020, private organizations set up free counseling clinics, either through neighborhood contacts or through social media, because of unreported cases of self-harm, according to a retired judge involved in the project.

Happening at home

The city was also alarmed by the 15 rape cases recorded from January to May, many of which happened at home, said Police Col. Glenn Lonogan, city police director, during a briefing on Wednesday.

The latest number was three times higher than the five rape cases reported last year.

As of June, the number of child abuse cases in the city, including the rape complaints, reached 71, according to city social welfare officer Betty Fangasan. In 2020, 76 cases of abuse were reported.

Lonogan has instructed the police to coordinate with health and social workers in monitoring child abuse complaints in the villages.

He said many of the latest cases involved children who were often left with adult male relatives, like grandparents or stepfathers, while their parents were at work. Minors, or those below 18 years old, are prohibited from leaving their homes because of the quarantine.

Young, old

The latest suicide cases in the city also appeared to have been triggered by discomfort and anxiety over home restrictions and regulations controlling movement, Ducas said.

Sixteen of these involved men, the oldest of them was 60 years old, he said.

The younger victims may be dealing with their sudden disconnection from their peers, Ducas noted.

“It was the sudden change of their environment … at their age, they require [a sense of] belongingness and they were deprived of that because movement had been limited,” he said.

The notion that families should not discuss mental health or suicidal thoughts at home “is a myth,” Ducas said. “Suicide is planned, that’s why it’s OK to talk to them,” he added.