Phone booths, messages of hope eyed

CEBU, Philippines — The Mandaue City Council has proposed to the Mactan-Cebu Bridge Management Board some measures to prevent suicide incidents on the two bridges.

The City Council passed on Monday a resolution sponsored by Councilor Joel Seno urging the MCBMB to ask and request the telephone companies to install telephone booth and signages with messages of hope in the two bridges connecting Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu to prevent suicide.

There have been recent and several suicide attempts on the two bridges, four of which were successful suicides this year.

The MCBMB has been under enormous pressure to address the suicide incidents and likewise face a wide variety of challenges in determining the appropriate method and measures to prevent further suicides in the future.

There were measures agreed upon by the MCBMB in a meeting held at the Capitol on Tuesday, September 10, 2019, to address the incidents of suicide attempts in the bridges such as, but not limited to, installing barriers as an alternative method for suicide prevention.

Seno said there is a need to include measures in preventing suicide at the inception stage by increasing awareness of Metro Cebu’s inhabitants that there are people willing to help them and suicide is not the solution.

“There is an alternative, reasonable and novel perspective that might prevent suicide, such as installing bridge phones where those who are attempting to commit suicide might change their minds after talking to someone considering that this is a mental health issue,” Seno said.

Other than installing bridge barriers, CCTVs and more police patrols, Seno said MCBMB may tap the services and assistance of telephone companies within its territorial jurisdiction, such as Globe, Smart, PLDT, Sun Cellular and other service providers in the future, to install phone booths with emergency hotlines at the two Mactan-Cebu bridges.

Seno also suggested that these telephone companies should partner with help lines, such as Kauban, Crisis Line, National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) Crisis Hotline, Tawag Paglaum Centro Bisaya and other future help lines, with mental health support group that gives psychosocial education for those experiencing signs of depression and install signage providing the respective phone numbers of such help lines.

He also proposed to MCBMB to install signages, with clear visibility to both the motorists and the pedestrians of the sidewalk lanes of the two Mactan-Cebu bridges, containing messages of hope. (FREEMAN)