NCR parents irked by late class suspension announcements

Why were class suspensions announced so late in Metro Manila on Tuesday?

The effects of Tropical Depression Gener and the enhanced Southwest Monsoon or Habagat caused several towns, cities and provinces across Luzon and Visayas to suspend Tuesday classes, making their announcements on Monday evening.

But in Metro Manila, class suspensions were only announced past 6 a.m. on Tuesday, when many children have already left for school or were already in school.

Some parents were dismayed by the timing, according to Raffy Tima’s 24 Oras report. 

“Medyo nakakainis lang ng kaunti. Maaga pa tuloy gumising, nagluto ng almusal ng mga bata, suspendido pala,” said a parent, Lazaro Avenado. 

(It's just a little annoying. We woke up early to cook the children's breakfast, and it turns out classes are suspended.) 

The local governments said they were only following the Department of Education's (DepEd) memorandum that once Signal No. 1 has been raised in an area, classes in private and public schools up to Grade 12 are automatically suspended.

So local governments had to wait for PAGASA's announcement of Storm Signal No. 1 for Metro Manila, which was only made at 5 a.m.

The Quezon City government, for instance, has been responding to persistent questions about when the suspension announcements would be made by saying that its guidelines require that the announcement be made on its official Facebook page on or before 4 a.m. On Tuesday, it posted the announcement just past 6 a.m.

The local government of Valenzuela said it has been monitoring the weather bulletin since Monday night, for them to decide whether to suspend classes.

“As much as possible of course gusto namin makapag-announce nang maaga. Nung gabi naman kasi wala pa naman advisory ng heavy rainfall, walang signal number na nakataas, so wala naman talaga kaming ia-announce na class suspension,” said Valenzuela PIO Mara Salazar. 

(As much as possible of course we want to be able to announce early. That night, there was no advisory of heavy rainfall, no signal number was raised, so we didn't announce any class suspension.) 

The DepEd order also states that if the class suspension announcement is made when the students are already in school, they must be sent home immediately.

DepEd, however, has not yet responded to queries concerning the late suspension, the report added. — Sherylin Untalan/BM, GMA Integrated News