Rowegie Abanto

Kabataan party-list Rep. Renee Co and Sen. Robinhood Padilla. Co's Facebook/Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File

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Kabataan party-list Rep. Renee Co and Sen. Robinhood Padilla. 

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1770863064077composites 2 (1) (4).jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Kabataan party-list Rep. Renee Co and Sen. Robinhood Padilla. <em>Co&#x27;s Facebook/Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File</em></span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>MANILA — House lawmakers from the Makabayan bloc on Thursday called out Sen. Robinhood Padilla for downplaying depression and describing today&#x27;s youth as &quot;weak,&quot; with one of them stressing that the mental health crisis is real.</p><p>At the Senate Committee on Public Information and Mass Media hearing on the Children&#x27;s Safety in Social Media Act on Wednesday, Padilla said the term &quot;depression&quot; was not common during his younger years.</p><p>&quot;Hindi ko nga alam &#x27;yun eh, kung ano &#x27;yung depression. Ngayon batang maliit, sasabihin I&#x27;m depressed. Magulo eh. Kaya sana po pag-usapan po natin ito,&quot; he said.  </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/11/padilla-calls-today-s-youth-weak-warns-of-effects-of-social-media-1745">Padilla calls today’s youth ‘weak,’ warns of effects of social media</a></div><p>In a statement, Kabataan party-list Rep. Renee Co pointed out that it was &quot;not surprising&quot; that young people today experience depression because of &quot;daily crisis&quot; in education to corruption.</p><p>&quot;Bakit niya sisisihin ang kabataan sa problema na kagagawan ng gobyerno na di rin nila masolusyonan? At least lumalaban ang kabataan,&quot; Co said in the release.</p><p>&quot;Totoo ang mental health crisis. Di siya problema ng indibidwal lang. Dapat tugunan &#x27;to ng gobyerno kaysa maghugas kamay.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Recognizing problems is not weakness. Gen Z is strong enough to see that and fight for change,&quot; she said.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;ANG DEPRESYON AY DI IMBENTO NG BAGONG HENERASYON&#x27;</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>In a separate statement, Gabriela party-list Rep. Sarah Elago condemned Padilla&#x27;s &quot;weak&quot; youth remark, saying his view was detrimental to the mental health advocacy.</p><p>&quot;Ang depresyon at iba pang suliranin sa kalusugan ay hindi imbento ng bagong henerasyon. Matagal na itong umiiral, ngunit noon ay nababalot lamang ng katahimikan, stigma, at kakulangan ng kaalaman,&quot; Elago said in the statement.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/11/17/22/mental-health-issues-rise-among-filipino-youth">Mental health issues continue to increase among Filipino youth - psychiatrist</a></div><p>&quot;Dapat kilalanin ng mga lider ng bansa ang mabibigat na hamon na kanilang kinakaharap: krisis sa edukasyon, kawalan ng trabaho, kahirapan, at patuloy na pagtaas ng presyo ng bilihin. Dagdag pa rito ang walang habas na pagkalat ng misinformation, disinformation, at online abuse sa social media.&quot;</p><p>If the government wants to shield children from the negative effects of social media, lawmakers should focus on crafting policies revolving around digital literacy, demanding accountability from big-tech companies, free and adequate mental health services in schools and communities, and boosting child protection mechanisms, she said.</p><p>&quot;Ang isang lipunang may malasakit ay hindi nagtatanong kung bakit nagsasalita ang kabataan tungkol sa depresyon; tinatanong nito kung paano sila higit na masusuportahan,&quot; Elago said.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NmecXlK4O-E?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div>

<p>House lawmakers from Makabayan bloc on Thursday called out Sen. Robinhood Padilla for <i>downplaying depression and</i> describing today's youth as "weak", with one of them pointing out that the mental health crisis is real.</p>

House lawmakers from Makabayan bloc on Thursday called out Sen. Robinhood Padilla for downplaying depression and describing today's youth as "weak", with one of them pointing out that the mental health crisis is real.

Lawmakers call out Padilla's 'weak' youth remark: 'Totoo ang mental health crisis'

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Lawmakers call out Padilla's 'weak' youth remark: 'Totoo ang mental health crisis'

Rowegie Abanto,

ABS-CBN News

Published Feb 12, 2026 10:51 AM PHT

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Makabayan

Gabriela

Kabataan

Robin Padilla

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