I just watched and heard CHED Chairman Emmanuel Angeles announcing the suspension of classes for tomorrow, Monday, September 28, 2009, at the college level in a telephone interview with Mariz Umali of GMA News.
Yesterday, at the height of the most powerful torrent of rain delivered by a Philippine tropical storm in history, Chairman Angeles fumbled majestically when he entrusted the responsibility of suspending classes to school administrators. I don't think I heard from DepEd Secretary Jesli Lapus yesterday; he seemed to have forgotten about the high school students who hold their CAT classes on Saturdays. Hindi ba't pinasu-sweldo naman ng taxpayers' money ang mga ito?!
Anyway, I believe that with Chairman Angeles' announcement, it is safe to make a general announcement:
Classes suspended/no classes at all levels (preschool, elementary, high school, college) on Monday, September 28, 2009 in Metro-Manila (NCR) and in selected areas of Calabarzon (Region IV-A).
Region IV-A or Calabarzon is composed of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon and Lucena City.
Map of Calabarzon (Region IV-A)
When asked by Mariz Umali to specify which areas of Calabarzon are included in the order of class suspension, Chairman Angeles could not provide an answer and said simply that it still needs to be coordinated with school administrators in the area. It's a pathetic answer; he could simply have ordered the entire Calabarzon area to be covered by the suspension so that students and their parents are not left guessing.
I think the order of suspension is also inadequate because it does not address the area of Region III or Central Luzon which was right in the path of tropical storm Ondoy. Central Luzon includes the provinces of Aurora, Bataan,, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, Zambales (as well as Angeles City and Olongapo City).
Map of Central Luzon (Region III)
Bakit ba ganito itong mga education officials ng Pilipinas? Parang hindi marunong ng geography at mukhang ang tingin sa ating mga mag-aaral ay mga imortal. Hello?! Ang mga bata po ay sinisipon din, nilalagnat at kapag inabutan ng baha, pwedeng mameligrong malunod. Maawa naman kayo! Kadalasan ay pagpapahintulot na lang sa pagtataas ng tuition fee ng mga private schools ang inaatupag ninyo! At saka po yung tulong na hiningi ko sa tanggapan ni DepEd Secretary Jesli Lapus na pagsu-suspend sa field trip nagkakahalaga ng P1,345 per student papuntang Villa Escudero sa Tiaong, Quezon, hanggang ngayon po ay walang aksyon ang kanyang tanggapan! Sumulat po ako sa tanggapan niya noong September 1, 2009, tapos na yung field trip hanggang ngayon wala po akong alam na ginawa niya mismo upang ipagtanggol ang mismong order ng DepEd.
VIDEO UPDATE
27 September 2009 2:24pm
This is the GMA News flash report by Mariz Umali that I saw several hours ago wherein CHED Chairman Emmanuel Angeles announced the suspension of classes at the college level.
Since that time, Defense Secretary Gilbert "Gibo" Teodoro in his capacity as Chair of NDCC has declared the suspension of classes in all levels tomorrow, Monday, September 28, 2009 in Metro Manila and Rizal. GMA News quotes Secretary Teodoro:
NDCC chair Gilberto Teodoro Jr. suspended classes after tropical storm 'Ondoy' still left parts of Metro Manila and Rizal impassable to vehicles.
"Para hindi na malito ang mga tao, on my discretion minamabuti ko na na suspindihin ang klase on all levels sa Metro Manila isama na natin ang lalawigan ng Rizal (So as not to confuse the public, it was in my discretion to suspend classes on all levels in Metro Manila, including the province of Rizal)," Teodoro said.
Sana po ay mag-resign na sina DepEd Secretary Jesli Lapus at CHED Chairman Emmanuel Angeles.
CLASS SUSPENSION SUMMARY UPDATE 1
28 September 2009 12:22am
I personally believe that classes should have been ordered suspended by the DepEd and the CHED in many more areas but this is how the class suspension order stands as of this hour:
No classes in all levels in Metro Manila, Rizal, Batangas and Laguna on Monday, September 28
So that we don't get confused, I suggest we take the suspensions one day at a time.
But if you want to read on, this article by the Inquirer,
No classes in Metro, Southern Tagalog areas, does make the assertion that there's no classes in all levels up to Tuesday, September 29. However, I don't recall hearing CHED Chairman Emmanuel Angeles say that he's ordering the suspension of colleges classes up to Tuesday. Anyway, I might have missed something. If I did, please let me know.
CLASS SUSPENSION SUMMARY UPDATE 2
28 September 2009 1:28am
Based on the news items that they're flashing at DZMM Teleradyo at this moment, we add Cavite to the list of provinces where there will be no classes on Monday, September 28. This is how the class suspension order stands as of this time:
No classes in all levels in Metro Manila, Rizal, Batangas, Laguna and Cavite on Monday, September 28, 2009.
CLASS SUSPENSION SUMMARY UPDATE 3
28 September 2009 8:40am
Based on the reports below by GMA News from Connie Sison and Mariz Umali, we add the province of Bulacan to the list of provinces where there are no classes on Monday, September 28. This is how the class suspension order stands as of this time:
No classes in all levels in Metro Manila, Rizal, Batangas, Laguna, Cavite and Bulacan on Monday, September 28, 2009.
For tomorrow, Tuesday, September 29, 2009, the class suspension advisory is:
No classes in preschool, elementary and high school in Metro Manila and Rizal on Tuesday, September 29, 2009.
No classes in St. Scholastica's College, September 29, 2009
No classes in La Concordia College, September 29 to October 2, 2009
This is the flash report by Connie Sison:
And this is the report by Mariz Umali.
UPDATE
29 September 2009 11:37am
This is my latest post on class suspension:
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