The Valenzuela City government released and explained on Monday, Sept. 26, the city’s new guidelines on automatic class suspensions during typhoons and other natural calamities to avoid confusion among students, parents, and educators.

Under City Ordinance No. 1052, Series of 2022 or “An Ordinance Prescribing the Guidelines on the Cancellation or Suspension of Classes and Work in Schools and Colleges in the Event of Disasters and Other Natural Calamities in the City of Valenzuela,” guidelines on different scenarios during typhoons or other natural disasters like earthquakes and floods are prescribed.

The city government said that it enacted the “Automatic Class Suspension” following the onslaught of the Super Typhoon Karding last Sept. 25 and 26.

Different tropical cyclone warning/wind signals (TCWS) were raised in some regions in the country during the recent typhoon.

Valenzuela City was among the Metro Manila cities placed by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) under TCWS No. 4.

The city government said that under the ordinance, in-person and online classes in pre-school/kinder, elementary, junior and senior high school in both public and private schools -- including community learning centers -- are automatically suspended once PAGASA places Valenzuela under any TCWS (Signals No. 1,2,3,4, or 5), heavy rainfall warnings (yellow, orange, and red rainfall advisories), or flood warnings.

It noted that work for all teaching and non-teaching personnel at all schools, division, regional, and central offices are also suspended during calamities, except for security, safety, finance, engineering, sanitation, health, and disaster response departments. Schools should be prepared to implement remote work with measured outputs.

For state and private colleges and universities, face-to-face classes are cancelled under TCWS No. 1 or the “yellow” rainfall warning.

Suspension of work for teaching and non-teaching personnel is within the prerogative of the college/university heads or administrators, the city government said.

In-person and online classes, including work of non-teaching and teaching personnel in the colleges and universities, are automatically suspended once PAGASA raised the typhoon signal to No. 2-5, “orange” or “red” rainfall warnings, as well as flood warnings.

Cancellation of classes in all levels (both public and private schools, universities, and colleges) will also be in effect during earthquakes, if the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Philvolcs) declares Earthquake Intensity Scale (PEIS) 5 or higher.

According to the local government, all decisions regarding other disasters not included in the ordinance will be under the prerogative of the mayor based on the recommendation of the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (LDRRMC).

On Sept. 25, Gatchalian already announced the implementation of the ordinance which was principally authored by Vice-Mayor Lorie Natividad-Borja, and City Councilors Gerald Galang, Ricarr Enriquez, Niña Lopez and Jonjon Bartolome.

Students and parent were advised to monitor class suspension announcements whenever there are heavy rainfall and typhoons.

A TCWS is a plain text warning to a particular land area that may experience winds of at least strong breeze in strength of 39 kilometers per hour or higher within 36 hours from the time a signal is put into effect during the passage of a tropical cyclone, according to bagong.pagasa.dost.gov.ph. It is meant to warn the public of the threat of general wind strength associated with a tropical cyclone.

Under PAGASA’s heavy rainfall warning system, “yellow” rainfall advisories are raised when the expected rainfall amount is between 7.5 to 15 millimeters within one hour and likely to continue; “orange” when 15 and 30 millimeters of rainfall amount is expected; and “red” when observed rainfall is over 30 millimeters within one hour or if rainfall has continued for the past three hours and is more than 65 millimeters (www.officialgazette.gov.ph).

The PEIS is a measure of how an earthquake is felt in a certain area based on the relative effects of an earthquake on structures and surroundings.