ILOILO City – “Talk to your sons and daughters often.”
The Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) is encouraging parents to be extra watchful of their children.
Western Visayas recorded 57 suicide incidents in just two months.
Between January and February this year, Negros Occidental topped the list with 16 cases; followed by Capiz and Iloilo with 10 cases each; and eight cases in Antique, PRO-6 data showed.
Other suicide cases were recorded in Aklan (5), Iloilo City (4), Guimaras (2), and Bacolod City (2).
“Among the reasons why the victims committed suicide is because they have no outlet to open up their problems,” said PRO-6 spokesperson Police Lieutenant Colonel Joem Malong.
Iloilo province’s current record was 47.37 percent lower than last year’s 19 cases within the same period.
Police Colonel Gilbert Gorero, director of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office, said the “Pag-Ulikid” desks set up in the police stations of 42 towns and the component city of Passi greatly contributed in the decline.
These desks had intervention to those in need of moral, psychological or spiritual support.
A total of 331 suicide cases were recorded across the region last year, with 94 cases in Iloilo; followed by Negros Occidental with 77; and Aklan with 40./PN
