Sorry, parents and students, there is school today

The rainfall on Sept. 22 evening was reminiscent of those days when parents were on alert mode, waiting for class suspension announcements from the mayors until early morning the next day. It seems that even Facebook page Earth Shaker Philippines misses those days when they would compile all the #WalangPasok updates via an infographic post. 

Earlier on Sept. 22, the organization posted an all green Philippine map, noting that the whole country would have class the next day, Sept. 23. The post included a caption, “Less likely na magkaroon ng suspension of classes dahil hindi po inaasahang tatagal ang mga pag-ulan (There will likely be less chance of class suspension announcements because the strong rainfall will not last long). Gayunpaman, ingat po sa ulan at kidlat ngayong gabi (Even though, please be careful with tonight’s thunderstorm)!”

Earth Shaker further explains, “Ang thunderstorm po na nakaaapekto sa Metro Manila at mga karatig probinsya ay posibleng magtagal ng 1-2 oras (The thunderstorm will affect Metro Manila and its neighboring provinces, and it will last for about one to two hours). Ibayong pag-iingat po sa malakas na buhos ng ulan, sa posibleng malakas na hangin, at sa kidlat (Please take note to be careful with regards to the strong rain fall, and possible strong winds and thunder).” 

The post ended on a funny note—Insert song: "Pana-panahon ang pagkakataon, maibabalik ba ang kahapon (Opportunities come in their own time, but can we bring back yesterday?)" (Kanlungan by Noel Cabangon). And it seems the netizens agree. With over 10,000 likes and almost 400 comments, a lot could relate to how life was before online distance learning when classes would be suspended on account of monsoon rains and typhoons. Quite a number of people left comments about how they missed class suspensions and seeing red (which meant no classes) shades on their respective cities. 

Almost equal to the number of comments on missing these class suspensions, a lot also left comments that there should be no online classes when there are thunderstorms. An Earth Shaker member River Villanueva also left a link to another article which he wrote, stating that meteorologist Christian John Evangelista explained how hydrometeorological hazards such as strong rainfall can affect class suspensions. The meteorologist also stressed the importance of having a localized weather forecast to aid the local government units in announcing class suspensions, even if online. The three reasons are: “strong typhoons can knock out power lines, some evidence suggests that rain droplets can disrupt Wi-Fi and cellular signals, and preparation for the typhoon should be prioritized.”