By Jason De Asis
BALER, Aurora—The Philippine Army’s 91st Infantry “Sinagtala” Battalion (IB) conducted another mental health program to promote the psychological welfare of its personnel in the province of Aurora on Friday here.
Lt. Col. Julito B. Recto, Jr., commander of 91st IB said that the one-day program was facilitated by Headquarters’ Headquarters Support Battalion (HHSBn) based in Fort Magsaysay to establish a functional system for the provision of physical and mental health care of the army personnel.
“This is another part of our mental health program to our soldiers aimed to establish mental crisis prevention and intervention strategies in order to conserve and safeguard the fighting strength of the military personnel and the organization as a whole,” Recto said.
It also included the stress debriefing, trauma counseling, psychological first aid to help prevent violent outbursts among others.
The top military official said that the 91st IB salutes the battle casualties in Aurora for the heroism they exemplified in the performance of their duties. “Let us be united and find ways to heal from within, for us to be stronger as an organization highly trusted by our people in bringing hope for peace and development,” Recto said.
2nd Lieutenant Eulla Micheal Angela Dico, a registered psychometrician said that the HHSBn will continue to provide trainings for psychiatric makeup to avoid stress and mental illnesses that the participants could also apply with their friends and families.
On the other hand, Sergeant Shandy D. Santiago said that suicidal thoughts and behaviors affect persons of all ages, leading to long-lasting effects on families, friends, workplaces, and communities. “Even our soldiers are affected of trauma and not immune to this serious health problem, we need to remind them about this problem, the work of our soldiers is a very stressful job, performing their sworn duty protecting the people and securing the land,” Santiago said.
The said lecture was attended by the personnel from the respective Companies of Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and CAFGU Active Auxiliary (CAA) patrol bases held at Laang Sibol Building, headquarter of 91st IB, Barangay Calabuanan, Baler, Aurora.
