Aquino, Janella B.

EDCO 201

2012 - 57670 12 Feb 2019

ISSUES AND TRENDS IN COUNSELING AND GUIDANCE

According to the Republic Act No. 9258 or the Guidance and Counseling Act (2004), to

become a guidance counselor in the Philippines, a person needs to earn a bachelor’s degree that

is related to guidance and counseling, like counseling, education, or psychology. After obtaining

a bachelor’s degree, one must study again and complete a master’s degree in guidance and

counseling. Finally, he/she must pass the Guidance Counselor Licensure Exam conducted by the

Professional Regulation Commission (PRC). Basically, it will take almost 10 years to become a

registered guidance counselor. Guidance Counselor is one of the most important professions in

our country, and I think it is a tough job that really needs extensive training because one mistake

can have a great impact in a person's life. In my opinion, the process of becoming a guidance

counselor is reasonable, but is quite expensive, that other people cannot afford. Firstly, for

bachelor's degree, a person is very lucky if he/she passed the admission test of state universities,

because as of now, some of the state universities in our country is offering free tuition. For others

that are not lucky enough to make it to cut-off, they will have to pay at least Php15, 000 per

semester, which makes it at least Php120, 000 for the whole degree program, exclusive of the

other fees for projects and other school requirements. Next, is taking up master’s degree, a

person must pay not less than Php5, 000 a year for his/her tuition fee, also exclusive of other fees

(“Guidance and Counseling courses”, n.d.). Lastly, taking up the Guidance Counselor Licensure
Exam, some people may want to go to a review center in order to recall the fundamental lessons

in becoming a guidance counselor, which may cost more than Php8, 000. In addition to that,

aspiring guidance counselors must pay Php900 to PRC in order to take the exam.

I think this process is linked or one of the main reasons why there is an inadequate number

of registered guidance counselors in the Philippines. According to a news article posted on the

website of ABS-CBN news by Valdez (2018), as of 2017, we only have 3, 220 registered

guidance counselors nationwide. Department of Education’s requirement is to have 46, 959

registered guidance counselors nationwide, which is 14.5 times the 2017’s registered guidance

counselors. This requirement is only for school alone, which means we are also lacking

community, hospital, and industry guidance counselors. In order to resolve this problem, other

schools hire guidance associates or non-registered guidance counselors. In our school, we only

have one guidance counselor, to think that we are composed of a thousand number of students.

To lessen the burden of the guidance counselor, she is being helped by the guidance associates.

Though they are good enough, they are still not licensed and lack of experience, because most of

them are around 20s only.

Another reason why there is a lack of registered guidance counselor, as stated in the news

article posted on the Manila Bulletin authored by Hernando-Malipot (2018), is because of the

low salary given to them. Their starting salary is around Php21, 000, but will it be able to supply

the needs of their families? I think not. Especially that basic necessities nowadays are very

expensive. Also, this profession is very tough because you are hearing lots of issues of other

people, so registered guidance counselors must be well-compensated. Dealing with your own

issue is already hard enough, and dealing with other people's issues make it a lot harder.

Moreover, if you are a school guidance counselor, your work doesn’t stop with the students only,
you also need to talk with the people around them, like their families. Sometimes, other schools

also give teaching loads and admin tasks to the guidance counselors, which are way beyond their

job description.

In addition to the issue of the low salary of registered guidance counselors, another problem

we have is the improper allocation of funds. I had a classmate in EDFD 201 who works at the

government, she shared to our class that we have enough fund for the education sector, it’s just

that, it was improperly allocated. According to the news article of Inquirer.net by Balita (2018),

DepEd was planning to use Php2.8 billion for the drug test of the students from Grades 4 to 12.

If you are a thinking person, instead of funding unnecessary projects like this drug test, just use

the money for hiring registered guidance counselors or give them a higher salary, as well as the

teachers. During President Duterte’s term, our government is focusing more on drug-related

concerns rather than the education and health of our fellow countrymen, which are the most

important sectors in a country. If we could learn how to appreciate more this kind of profession,

the students and other Filipinos will not be lead to doing crimes and we can have less depressed

or problematic students and adults.

In connection to having depressed or problematic students, upon interviewing our guidance

associate, she told that the current trend in guidance and counseling is the new law that was

passed last June 20, 2018, that concerns about the Mental Health of the Filipinos. The said law is

known as the Republic Act No. 11306 or the "Mental Health Law". This law was primarily

authored by Senator Risa Hontiveros and co-authored by Senate President Vicente Sotto III,

Senators Loren Legarda, Antonio Trillanes IV, Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, Juan Edgardo Angara,

and Joel Villanueva (Elemia. 2018). According to the content of Mental Health Law, this allows

us, Filipinos, to have an accessible, eminence and inexpensive mental health care. This also
includes the prohibition of the judgment and stigma that were associated with people that have a

mental health problem.

According to De Guzman (2018), research of Global Burden Disease last 2015 showed that

about 3.3 million Filipino are experiencing from depression. The suicide rate is also high that

there are 2.5 males and 1.7 females out of 100, 000 Filipinos choose to end their lives. The

results made the Philippines as the number one country with the most number of people with

mental illness in Southeast Asia. Moreover, data showed that, since we are a country that is

dominantly Catholic, there is a huge possibility there are other cases that were not reported as

suicide because of the stigma related to it.

The news is very saddening, to think that there is a cure for it, that we can prevent mental

illness, but it was not yet accepted by most of the Filipinos, some choose to judge the people

with illness first and the help was not accessible yet. Let me just share my experience when I was

having a problem. I tried to contact the suicide hotline but I don’t have a load to call them so I

just texted them, but their reply is to call the number. I texted them multiple times that I don't

have a load to call them, and the toll-free number is cannot be reached, but there was no reply. It

was already late at night and the stores near my dormitory are already closed, as a result, I cannot

have my prepaid card loaded. I was really having a hard time during those hours, though I am not

suicidal, I really think I needed help during that time, and I didn't want to bother my friends

because of my own dilemma. Fortunately, since I am physically and emotionally tired at that

time, I was able to sleep. Having this kind of law made me happy because some of our

politicians are concerned with the mental health of our fellow Filipinos and we are doing a step

to eliminate the discrimination felt by the people with the mental health problem. Also, it

provides new programs and strengthens the means of help that are already present in our country
that will help us. This law is not yet fully felt by Filipinos, but I do hope that we will be able to

acknowledge it as soon as possible.

Furthermore, as a junior high school teacher of students that are 12 to 16 years old with most

of them have a broken family or their parents are not always with them, this law can make a huge

impact in their lives. As I mentioned earlier, we have a limited number of guidance counselor

and guidance associates and our school’s guidance associate is not always around, so this can be

another source of help to them. I was also a teenager, and during this period, we usually say our

problems to our friends or other people instead of our parents or other members of the family.

But because of this law, which claims that it is affordable and accessible, students might be able

to talk with people who are more educated and experienced with counseling and helping, which

is great because these people know the right things to say and do.

We still have a long way to go, we are still lacking professionals that will be a great help to

the Filipinos, like registered Guidance Counselors. I think it will still take years for us to

overcome the issues or problems in guidance and counseling that we are facing at this moment.

On the other hand, this new trend in Guidance and Counseling, the Mental Health Law, is a

solution to a problem, which is a piece of good news. Hopefully, this law will be fully

experienced by people who need help as soon as possible. I believe we will make it.
 https://news.abs-cbn.com/focus/01/14/18/lack-of-registered-guidance-counselors-forces-sch

ools-to-keep-unlicensed-ones-part-1

https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/07/18/deped-search-for-guidance-counselors-held-back-by-lo

w-pay/

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1008477/deped-should-hire-more-guidance-counselors-than-sp

end-for-drug-tests-senator

https://www.lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2004/ra_9258_2004.html.

http://www.finduniversity.ph/guidance-and-counselling-schools/masters-programs/public/

https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2018/08/27/1846128/mental-health-filipinos-today

https://www.pllo.gov.ph/images/Documents/Downloads/RepublicActs-JointResolutions/RA.

11036_mental.health.act.pdf

https://www.rappler.com/nation/205425-duterte-signs-mental-health-law-services-philippine