DepEd to parents: Safety first
AS RAINS start to pour this June and as classes in some schools begin, the Department of Education (DepEd) Cebu City Division advised parents to
always consider their children’s safety in cases of inclement weather.
Deped Cebu City Division Disaster Officer Cheron Aranas explained that Department Order No. 43, series of 2012, gives parents especially from far-flung areas the discretion whether or not to allow their children to go to school during weather disturbances.
“Kon tan-aw gyud nga marisgo ang bata, atong tagaan ug authority ang ginikanan nga paabsenon ilang mga anak (If they think their children are at risk, we have given parents the authority to let them be absent from school.), Aranas said.
The order is in relation to DepEd’s rules on the cancellation or suspension of classes and work in government offices due to typhoons, flooding, other weather disturbances and calamities.
According to Aranas, parents had been informed during the education department’s Brigada Eskwela program that should they decide to let their
children be absent from school due to bad weather, they only have to inform the teacher or the school principal.
Under DepEd rules, if the weather disturbance suddenly occurs in the middle of classes, schools are advised not to release their students for their own safety, Aranas said.
Once an area is declared under Storm Signal No. 1, public and private pre-schools and kindergarten classes are suspended. Storm Signal No. 2 means public and private pre-school, kindergarten, elementary and high school classes are suspended while Storm Signal No. 3 would automatically suspend classes in all levels.
Furthermore, a storm signal warning declared at 11:00 AM would automatically suspend afternoon classes for the same day in the appropriate levels and areas, according to DepEd guidelines.
Pagasa
The state weather bureau, Pagasa, forecasts that Cebu will experience cloudy skies and light to moderate rains today due to the prevailing Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ).
The chief of Pagasa Mactan, Al Quiblat, said the ITCZ which is seen hovering over the Visayas, Mindanao and Palawan areas, would bring
scattered rainshowers in Central and Western Visayas.
“Dili mokompyansa kay ang characteristic sa ITCZ kay undang-undang ang pag-ulan (People should not be complacent because a characteristic of the ITCZ is intermittent rains),” Quiblat told Cebu Daily News.
Aside from that, a Low Pressure Area (LPA) which entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) last Friday is now affecting the Eastern Visayas area.
Weather forecasters said that the LPA has a 50 percent chance of developing into a tropical cyclone within the next 24 to 48 hours.
The LPA was last spotted at 695 kilometers east of Surigao City, Surigao del Norte, as of 3 P.M. , Sunday. It is expected to exit PAR on Friday, June 8 moving in a northward direction going to extreme Norther Luzon.
Quiblat advised the public to continue to monitor updates for a more proactive response to the weather situation.
Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) Head Baltazar Tribunalo Jr. said that PDRRMO conducted a training for teachers on risk management assessment and planning in school in the event of disasters.
“Last summer, we conducted a training for teachers on disaster risk management, especially in preparation for La Niña,” Tribunalo said.
Classes open
As some schools open classes today, students and workers are advised to leave home early to avoid being caught up in traffic.
“Actually, we are not expecting heavy traffic since not all schools will start their classes today. We are watching out for traffic along N. Bacalso
Avenue due to the ongoing road work there,” said Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) Operations Chief Francisco Ouano referring to the underpass project of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) along that stretch.
Ouano expects a traffic build-up near public schools that have a huge student population such as the Guadalupe Elementary School.
To ensure that Cebu City’s traffic situation will remain manageable, Ouano said that all the 200 traffic enforcers of the city will be assigned on shifts 24 hours a day.
“We will go on full force now because we will ask all traffic enforcers to go on duty. Last May, we made each of them rest by making them take a leave so that when classes open, we will be on full force,” Ouano said in Cebuano.
Traffic authorities are coordinating with the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) and barangay officials to help them with the traffic.
Traffic is expected to peak between 6-8 A.M. and 4-7 P.M. today, said Ouano.
Elsewhere, in Talisay City, Supt. Marlu Conag, the city’s police chief said that traffic policemen will focus on managing the flow of traffic along schools.
About 100 police personnel will be sent out on field for traffic duties and to help secure schools in Talisay, said Conag.
In Mandaue City, at least 180 traffic enforcers will be deployed in two shifts near schools, according to Glenn Antigua, chief of the Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue (TEAM).
“We are on full force. We will not allow days off and leaves as we focus on the traffic situation the whole week,” said Antigua in Cebuano.
He also called on commuters to cooperate with traffic enforcers and advised parents to walk their children to school if they happen to live nearby.
Jaywalking which contributes to traffic must also be avoided, warned Antigua.
In Lapu-Lapu City, at least 40 traffic enforcers will be deployed to man traffic near schools starting today, said City Traffic Management System (CTMS) Chief Mario Napule.