DIPOLOG CITY (Mindanao Examiner / June 7, 2013) – A teenager driven by extreme poverty and despondent over his broken family had killed himself in the town of Tampilisan in Zamboanga del Norte province in southern Philippines, police said Friday.
Police said the teener had attempted suicide in the past due to nagging problems about his family and his job as rubber tree tapper.
He lived with his grandmother Lolita Peralta in the village of Galingon where his lifeless body was discovered June 6 hanging by the bridge, said Inspector Melvin Solmayor, chief of the local police force.
The teener had previously complained of being tired of his work and was one of the reasons in his past suicide attempts.
“Investigation disclosed that a few weeks ago, subject person already attempted to commit suicide for the reason that he was already tired of his work as rubber tapper and as a product of a broken family, he only lived with his grandmother,” Solmayor said in his report.
It was unknown whether the teener’s parents were aware of his tragic death.
Teen suicide in the Philippines is not common and remains low compared to other Asian countries such as Japan.
But the National Center of Biotechnology Information based in the United Kingdom cited a study on teenage suicide cases in the Philippines and said while suicide rates are low in the country, increases in incidence and relatively high rates in adolescents and young adults point to the importance of focused suicide prevention programs.
Improving data quality and better reporting of suicide deaths is likewise imperative to inform and evaluate prevention strategies. It said suicide prevention is given a low priority in many Western Pacific countries due to competing health problems, stigma and poor understanding of its incidence and aetiology.
“Little is known about the epidemiology of suicide and suicidal behaviour in the Philippines and although its incidence is reported to be low, there is likely to be under-reporting because of its non-acceptance by the Catholic Church and the associated stigma to the family,” it said.
It said the most commonly used methods of suicide were hanging, shooting and organophosphate ingestion. (Mindanao Examiner)
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