The Lesson from Tacloban: Mental Health Cannot Wait

Posted on Auguat 26, 2026 at 6:30 am

DSWD shifts strategy from trauma response to school violence prevention

The Department of Social Welfare and Development is right to broaden its lens.

After school shootings in Tacloban and Zamboanga City, the agency now talks of mental health, family intervention, and prevention—not just trauma care. That is a necessary shift.

For nearly two months, DSWD-Eastern Visayas has kept children under its care in Tacloban, providing psychiatric help, schooling, and legal aid.

Social workers have trained teachers, police, and barangay officials in psychological first aid.

That is commendable. But it is reactive.

DSWD Usec. Fatima Dimaporo acknowledged the common thread: youth mental health, isolation, and exposure to violent online spaces. Yet she also cautioned that it is too early to pinpoint causes.

Senator Risa Hontiveros put it plainly: the problem cuts across public and private schools. It is not just about resources—it is about overlapping dimensions that demand a multi-agency response.

The DSWD now plans a school safety workshop with DepEd, DOJ, and the PNP. That is a start.

But the government must move swiftly. What remains unclear is how quickly the government will move from study to action.

Families in Eastern Visayas cannot wait for another tragedy to test whether prevention works.

Violence can be prevented. But prevention requires more than workshops and planning—it requires urgency, funding, and accountability.

The time for study is over. The time for action is now.