PFA in the Lopez GroupIn his presentation in last year’s Lopez Learning Synergy Summit (LLSS), Ernie Lopez described the Lopez Group Arugang Kapamilya (or Health and Wellness) Cluster’s psychological first aid (PFA) initiative as “the first step that we want to take for mental health for our country.”

“Just like first aid, not everybody is a doctor but everybody can be trained in first aid to help in times of emergency. In the same way, we also want to be trained in psychological first aid because mental health is such an urgent issue right now,” the ABS-CBN Foundation Inc. (AFI)-Bantay Bata 163 director of advocacy pointed out.

The collaborative idea to take care of an individual’s emotional and mental well-being in the Lopez Group first dawned in 2013, when Knowledge Channel Foundation Inc. (KCFI) worked with AFI-Sagip Kapamilya, the Psychological Association of the Philippines and other organizations to produce a video series that guided teachers on dealing with the psychological needs of young children traumatized by typhoon Yolanda. Years later, this effort earned KCFI a recognition in the 2016 Lopez Achievement Award, for that program had by then benefited thousands of teachers, students, parents and other individuals.

Today, the initiative to strengthen our self-care continues through the synergy led by Arugang Kapamilya leads Ernie Lopez and Janbern Barel of First Gen Corporation. The members include Tina Pasion and Kyle Vail of AFI, Audrey Trinidad of Asian Eye Institute, Janice Dugan and Mitchell Bullecer of First Gen, Faith Bacon of Lopez Group Foundation Inc. and Dimpy Jazmines of SKYcable.

Dr. Lito Gapas and Cecile Batalla of First Philippine Holdings Corporation provide support for strategic planning and program review.

Lopez encouraged all employees to take the PFA course as the cluster aims to promote an “inclusive and optimal health and well-being for every Filipino.” Arugang Kapamilya is in the process of putting together a roster of “PFAiders” within the Lopez Group as part of its initial phase.

Companies and organizations can help by adopting the Arugang Kapamilya program and by rolling out the second phase, Community Wellness and PFA, for their host communities. For more info, email Janbern Barel at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .