A total of 116 local government units (LGUS) in Western Visayas suspended classes in 3,848 public
schools on Tuesday, supposedly the first day of school year 2023-2024, due to poor weather caused
by “habagat” (southwest monsoon) enhanced by Typhoon Goring.
“Currently, we are abiding by the mandate coming from our local chief executives and local
government units. Because of this inclement weather condition brought by the southwest monsoon
and enhanced by Typhoon Goring, we abide by that order because paramount is the safety of our
learners,” said Department of Education Western Visayas information officer Hernani Esculllar Jr., in
an interview.
He added that while everyone is excited to return to school, they have to consider the safety of
learners, and they will wait for the LGUs to declare the resumption of classes.
Being the first day of school and teachers have yet to meet the learners, the information officer said it
will now be up to the schools and their respective divisions to discuss the method they will take to
cope with any missed lessons.
“To our parents and learners, kindly monitor your local chief executives for announcements on the
resumption of classes, especially for those schools where LGUs declared the suspension of classes due
to inclement weather,” he said.
Of the affected schools, most came from the city and province of Iloilo, where 1,238 schools did not
hold classes.
The suspension also covered 370 schools in Aklan, 535 schools in Antique, 446 in Capiz, 114 in
Guimaras, 70 in Bacolod City, and 1,075 in Negros Occidental, as per data provided by the DepEd
regional office.
In an interview on Monday, Escullar said DepEd was ready to welcome the over 1.5 million learners
enrolled in 4,048 public elementary and secondary schools in the region, saying the first day of school
will be the first day of classes for learners.
He added there are areas in the region, like Roxas City in Capiz, where the holding of classes
continued.
The state weather bureau raised heavy rainfall warnings ranging from yellow to orange to red over
several provinces in Western Visayas.
The yellow warning means flooding is possible in low-lying areas and landslides in mountainous areas;
for orange, flooding is threatening low-lying areas and landslides in mountainous areas; and serious
flooding is expected in low-lying areas and landslides in mountainous areas during the red level
warning. (PNA)
