Whether or not I get published
A professor stumbled upon my Legal Research Paper on Scribd (which
link I posted in facebook). He asked me if I wanted to write a short
essay about the PWD rights, that might get published in the Inquirer.
I gladly accepted the offer ofcourse! And to be endorsed by a
professor-columnist would, I think, make more chances of getting published.
I wrote then an article for one whole night until 6am in the morning. I had my adrenaline rush!
I wrote an article entitled MENTALLY DISABLED in PHILIPPINE SETTING: A CALL FOR EQUAL PROTECTION.
According to my professor the title was heavy so I changed the
title. Thereafter I sent a second email correcting a typo on the first
sentence. After sending my 2nd email, I talked to my professor and he said
it was for Youngblood!
Youngblood?!? I made a mistake. The article I wrote was a commentary.
More of a news and informative article and I DID NOT USE THE PRONOUN
“I” which most youngblood contributors regular do - so there wasn’t any
personal touch.:(((
I thought it was for a commentary since this professor has a column
for the inquirer and his former students and fellow teachers who make
articles which he endorses are all not for Youngblood but commentaries.
So this morning, I edited it for the third time and sent my professor a text message:
Sir good morning. I have been overthinking since I sent you the
last email dahil nahihiya na ako mag edit pa ulit. But I edited this
morning anyway. Reason why, when I wrote it I didn’t know it was for
Youngblood and I thought it was for a different section like commentary.
Since Its youngblood, I edited this morning and made use of the pronoun
“I”, made the text just a bit lighter and showed the reader that I was
involved in the research. That way it has a more personal touch. I sent
the new one this morning and I don’t know if you can still tell them to
change it and consider this instead. At any case the first emails will
do but I hope they will consider this. Pacencia na po sa istorbo ulit.
Naomi.
I was waiting for his response but he did not reply until this afternoon via email and said:
Naomi, I already sent them the last version before this one, and
promised it was already the final revision. Let’s just wait and see.
I have strongly endorsed your article for publication, but we
will have to wait when it is actually published. This is not unusual. I
have endorsed UP law professors in the past, and we just wait when their
essays appear. I will keep you posted.
This coming Friday, I’m leaving for a month-long fellowship in Bangkok. Let’s just keep in touch via email.
I was disappointed he wasn’t able to send my last revision but I had no choice but to tell him,
“Okay Sir! No problem!”
Anyway, whether or not I get published, I am posting the 3rd and last revision I made (which
wasn’t submitted to the Inquirer) for posterity:
A misunderstood disease
Naomi Therese F. Corpuz is a Junior at U.P. College of Law. She is a mental health advocate, a blogger and chocolatier.
“If you will not give me a valid reason why you skipped the exam, I will give you a failing grade,”
said Maricar Estrella’s professor. Maricar (not her real name), a
college student from one of the prestigious schools in the country,
responded, “Sir, I have clinical depression and anxiety disorder. I
was not able to study. I have prescriptions, medical receipts and a
medical certificate to prove it.” The professor then replied, “You mean to tell me, you can skip an exam anytime you want?”
With the professor’s response, it can be concluded he did not
understand what depression and anxiety disorder mean. Even with
pertinent documents that Maricar was willing to show to prove her mental
illness, the professor brushed it aside.
While teachers can invoke what they call “academic freedom,”
that even illnesses cannot be excused – where then and how is the state
policy found in our Philippine Constitution, which states, “the State
shall protect and promote the right to health of the people and instill
health consciousness among them,” put into place? Didn’t Maricar’s
teacher violate this state policy of our basic law which is the supreme
law of the land?
If Maricar had another type of illness other than mental
illness, would she have been given consideration by her law professor?
In her interview, Maricar said it was likely she would’ve been excused
due to sore eyes or high fever, similar to what happened to her other
schoolmates. If other illnesses are given consideration, why not a
mental disablity?
Professor Patricia Daway in the college of law tasked us to
write a supervised legal research and as a mental health advocate I
chose the topic on mentally disabled Filipinos. And this is what I
found. The mentally disabled are misunderstood.
Worldwide, major depression is set to become second only to
cardiovascular disease as the most diagnosed condition by year 2020. A
World Health Organization document on Mental Health and Development in
2010 reports that one of every four households worldwide have members
with mental health problems. Dr Lourdes Ladrido-Ignacio, a noted
psychiatrist, said between 17 to 20 percent of the country’s adult
population have psychiatric disorders.
Mental disability is often misunderstood since its symptoms
are only felt by the sufferer. Many relate mental disablity to the “sira
ulo,” and are not aware of other types of mental disorders such as
clinical depression, schizophrenia and bipolar among others. Such
persons are not insane per se but fall under term mental disability and
are considered Persons With Disabilities (PWD) protected by the Magna
Carta for Disabled Persons. While people with mental disabilities are
also PWDs who must be protected by the Magna Carta they are
discriminated against in various forms.
It is also important to note that there is no single mental
health legislation for those with mental disabilities. The Department of
Health (DOH) does have mental health policies, while the Magna Carta
for Disabled Persons (RA 9422), a Republic Act, is not specifically for
mental disabilities. The Magna Carta provides special rights and
privileges for the physically impaired — their mobility is enhanced
through sidewalks, railings, ramps and the like; the hearing impaired
are benefited with TV stations encouraged to provide a sign-language
inset or subtitles and telephone companies are encouraged to install
special telephone devices for them. However if we dissect the Magna
Carta no specific right or privilege is given to mentally disabled
persons but there is for the“mentally retarded” under the provisions in
Education. Mental retardation though is not synonymous to mental
disability. Mental retardation is only one of the kinds of mental
disabilities. In fact there are persons with mental disabilities with
superior intelligence which is the complete opposite of mentally
retarded persons.
The Magna Carta also grants PWDs at least 20% discount in all
basic services, such as the purchase of medicines and payment of
professional fees of dentists and doctors. It is a step in alleviating
the financial burden of the disabled, but it is not without any
disadvantages. To avail of the discount, a person with disability must
present an identification card with the term “Person With Disability” on
it. The mentally disabled who will present the I.D. may be identified
as “sira ulo,” since their symptoms are not apparent. It is best to make
use of other terms such as, “Persons With Special Discounts,” which
will not identify the patient to be mentally disabled.
In insurance coverage, the Philippine Health Insurance only
covers acute attacks of mental illnesses, subject to confinement. Dr.
Israel Francis Pargas of Philhealth whom I interviewed said, patients
confined with chronic physical illnesses such as leukemia, or in need of
dialysis for kidney failure, are covered by Philhealth. If chronic
physical illnesses are covered, why not cover chronic mental illnesses
as well? Medical research shows, early intervention and compliance to
treatment for mental disorders — which can be done through the support
of an insurance coverage – can result in lesser dosage of medication and
length of treatment. This, in turn, will decrease the need for
insurance benefits, which would be beneficial to PhilHealth.
It is unfortunate that Filipino psychiatrists are found to
have a passive role in mental health legislation. In a
survey-questionnaire I distributed during a conference of psychiatrists
in Dusit Hotel in 2011, 90 out of 95 doctors surveyed were not familiar
with the contents of the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons. This means
that they are also unaware of the 20% discount they must provide to
their patients as PWDs under the Act. Out of the 95
respondent-psychiatrists, 51 out of the 95 did not know that Philhealth
insurance for their patients exists. 90 out of 93 respondents also did
not know about the contents of the pending House Bill 6679, which pushes
for the establishment of a “Philippine Council for Mental Health”.
Filipino psychiatrists, as primary mental health providers, need to be
more involved in the crafting of health laws affecting their patients,
as they are supposed to be the prime movers of their patients’ rights.
The equal protection clause enshrined in our Philippine
Constitution mandates that our laws must be applied equally to all. If
special considerations are given to persons with high fever or sore eyes
in school, why not a student suffering from a mental disorder? If
people with physical impairment and hearing impairment are given
specific rights and privileges, why not also the mentally disabled?
Any act that favors only a few is discriminatory and unjust
not only to Maricar Estrella, but all mentally disabled Filipinos who
all cry for equal protection.
— Still hoping to get my 2nd revision published though I like the one above
(my third revision) better (fingers crossed).
