New DepEd helpline allows students to call mental health counselors

MANILA, Philippines — Students calling the Department of Education's #33733 helpline can now be forwarded directly to counselors at the National Center for Mental Health, an upgrade Education Secretary Sonny Angara said would shorten the response time for learners in distress.

DepEd launched the Learners TeleSafe Contact Center Helpline at General Tiburcio De Leon National High School in Valenzuela City on Monday, May 11. There are also simultaneous rollouts in Iloilo City and Cagayan de Oro City, the agency said in a news release.

Under the setup described, a Learner Rights and Protection officer takes the initial call, conducts an assessment and transfers the student to NCMH specialists when the case involves a mental health crisis or abuse.

PLDT Inc. provided the contact center technology behind the transfer system, according to DepEd.

Students can also reach the helpline at 09451759777, weprotectlearners@deped.gov.ph and Viber.

"By connecting our #33733 Helpline with experts from NCMH, we are bringing care and quality healthcare closer to every student," Angara said in mixed English and Filipino.

Counselor shortage

At a House appropriations committee hearing in September 2025, Angara said the country had only 4,069 licensed guidance counselors as of 2022, far from the more than 50,000 needed to meet the ideal global ratio of one counselor for every 250 students.

He said DepEd had resorted to creating "counselor associate" posts to help fill the gap.

Angara also warned that more than 4,000 counselor vacancies budgeted for this year were unlikely to be filled in the next five years because universities were not producing enough graduates to meet demand.

Bullying cases. DepEd recorded some 2,500 bullying cases for school year 2024-2025, higher than the 2,268 cases logged the previous year.

The number is believed to be only a fraction of the actual total, as bullying cases have typically been underreported.

In the 2022 Program for International Student Assessment, the Philippines had the highest percentage of students who said they were frequently bullied, at around 35%. PISA estimated the average in developed nations at just below 10%.