Former vice president and Naga City Mayor Leni Robredo has inaugurated a new mental health hub under the city’s ANGAT KAHIMATI program.
In a Facebook post, Robredo featured the facility that will serve as a more permanent and appropriate space for the program’s mental health counseling sessions and will be “a huge support” to the Mental Health Unit of City Health Office II.
“We finally inaugurated our new mental health hub,” Robredo wrote.
The ANGAT KAHIMATI Mental Health Program was launched in 2024 through a partnership among Angat Buhay, Councilor Gayle Abonal Gomez and the Department of Psychology of Ateneo de Naga University.
According to Robredo, the program initially operated from the former Angat Buhay office at the district office of then-Rep. Gabby Bordado, now vice mayor, before transferring to a room at the Jesse Robredo Center for Good Governance after Bordado’s term ended.
“When I assumed office, we wanted to adopt it as a City Program and we wanted a more permanent and appropriate space for our Mental Health Counselling Sessions,” Robredo said.
She said they later found the former Green Room on the third floor of the Raul S. Roco Library, which they were told had previously been used as an extension of the mayor’s office.
“We were able to transform the place without cost to the City Government,” Robredo said.
Robredo credited several partners for helping transform the space, including Ikea Philippines, H & F Retail Concepts, Davies Paint and Bongcayao Architectural Studios.
She also thanked Richard Bautista, chairperson of the Ateneo de Naga University Department of Psychology, psychiatrist Dr. Apons Belmonte, and members of the Angat Buhay organization for their partnership.
“This hub will be a huge support to our Mental Health Unit at the City Health Office II,” Robredo said.
Kahimati is a Bikolano term derived from the root word “himati,” which refers to a deeper and more mindful kind of listening.
—John Marwin Elao
