10/09/2026
๐๐ข๐๐. ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐ฆ. ๐๐๐๐๐จ๐ฅ๐.
๐๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ด๐บ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐น๐ค๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐บ. ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐บ. ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ. ๐๐ต๐ฆ๐ฑ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ, ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ง๐ต ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ด๐บ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต. ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ธ, ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ช๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ญ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ. It's okay to not be okay, even the best-engineered structures need support.
In line with this commitment to support, World Su***de Prevention Day is observed every September 10, established in 2003 by the International Association for Su***de Prevention (IASP) in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), and it remains a global reminder that su***de is preventable. Here in the Philippines, this commitment is already written into our foundation, as Republic Act No. 11036, the Mental Health Act, recognizes mental health as a basic right and mandates accessible support for every Filipino. Therefore, no structure is expected to stand without reinforcement, and neither are you.
Building on this idea of reinforcement, every structure we design is built with a factor of safety, a buffer that acknowledges no beam, no column, no foundation should ever be loaded to its absolute limit. As CIVIL and structural engineers, we are taught to design for the worst-case scenario, seismic loads, wind shear, fatigue over time. Yet, we rarely apply that same principle to ourselves. However, you are not reinforced concrete, and carrying load without relief will eventually lead to failure, not because you are weak, but because no material, living or inert, was ever meant to bear everything alone.
Similarly, water does not ask permission before it rises. It finds every gap, every weakness, every place we failed to prepare, and it pushes through without warning. In this era where the sea of information and development sweeps us like a raging tsunami, we keep the waves in check by adapting to it. Yet, no sea wall holds alone, it is the network beneath it, the pilings, the supports, the structures tied together, that keeps it standing. In the same way, adapting to life's pressure was never meant to be done alone, it is built through the people and systems we allow to support us.
Therefore, you must ask this question: "Am I okay?" Despite the difficulty of the trials and tribulations we face each day, we must come to accept that it is truly okay to not be okay.
โ๏ธ: Gabriel Dominic Bobita
***dePreventionDay
