MANILA, Jan. 31 -- Senator Sherwin Gatchalian will seek a salary hike for guidance counselors to help address the alarming number of suicides and attempted suicides among students.

A public hearing on Tuesday tackled Gatchalian's Senate Bill No. 379, or the Act Strengthening the Promotion and Delivery of Mental Health Services in Basic Education Schools, filed last year.

The measure seeks to institutionalize a mental health and well-being program, prescribe the hiring and deployment of mental health professional, prescribe the creation of plantilla (permanent) positions of guidance associates in the Department of Education (DepEd) and increase the salary of guidance counselors from Salary Grade 11 (PHP27,000) to 16 (PHP39,672).

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