Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte. (File photo)
MANILA -- Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte on Wednesday directed the City Council to probe the suicide incident at a mall in the city over the weekend.
The inquiry will include mall officials, school authorities and experts on addressing adolescent mental health issues.
In a statement, Belmonte said Councilors Irene Belmonte, Lala Sotto and PM Vargas, chairpersons of the Committee on Education, Science and Technology, Committee on Health and Committee on Infrastructure, respectively, will lead the probe.
The incident on Saturday involved a 15-year-old Grade 9 student who entered Trinoma mall around 1:27 p.m. with some friends.
He talked to his mother around 5:45 p.m. and went to the 7th floor of the mall's parking building and jumped.
This is the second recorded case of adolescent suicide inside a mall in the city.
On October 5, a senior high school student allegedly jumped off the 5th floor of the SM City North Edsa Annex.
Belmonte said the investigation would focus on mental health issues among the youth and find means on how to address these, adding that the hearing aims at the creation of policy and guidelines that would prevent similar incidents from happening anew.
“This includes the creation of crisis intervention units on-site to assist establishments in dealing with these types of situations. Sisilipin din ang setup ng mga mall at building at kung paano magpapatupad ng mahigpit na seguridad upang hindi na maulit pa ang ganitong insidente (We'll look into the setup of malls and buildings and how to have heightened security to avoid such cases)," she added.
Belmonte also instructed the City Health Department to ensure the implementation of City Ordinance No. SP-2456 S-2015, which provides for a community-based mental health program and delivery system.
She appealed to the public not to share the video of the incident, saying "they should be sensitive to the plight of the family of the victim".
“Huwag na po nating dagdagan ang sakit na nararamdaman ng pamilya ng biktima. Sa halip, tumulong tayo na mapigil ang pagkalat ng video sa social media sa pamamagitan ng pagre-report sa mga site na nagpapalabas nito (Let's not add to the pain the family is experiencing. Instead, let's help stop the spread of the video over social media by reporting the sites streaming it),” she added. (PNA)
