DAVAO CITY – Mayor Michelle Nakpil Rabat suspended classes in public schools in Mati City on Monday, December 4, for an inspection by rapid damage assessment teams of the structural integrity of all public infrastructure, buildings, schools, and other facilities after the magnitude 7.4-earthquake on Saturday night, December 2.

Rabat issued Executive Order No. 105 dated December 2 declaring the suspension of classes in public pre-school, elementary, and secondary schools in the city pursuant to Section 2 of Presidential Executive Order No. 66, Series of 2012.

It states that in the absence of typhoon signals from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), localized cancellation or suspension of classes and work in government offices may be implemented by local chief executives, as chairman of the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (LDRRMC) concerned, in coordination with PAGASA and the National DRRMC, specifically in flood-prone and high-risk areas.

“Tertiary schools and private schools of all levels operating in the city are encouraged to follow suit, subject to their school administrator’s discretion and also conduct a preliminary ocular inspection in all their building and other structures, and submit a report to CDRRMO for inspection,” Rabat said.

The Regional DRRMC, through the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD)-11, has raised the status of its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to red alert as a result of the earthquake.

As chairman of the RDRRMC, the OCD-11 said that the red alert status enables them to intensify close monitoring of the Davao region and ensure immediate mobilization of resources from the regional level, particularly to areas affected by the earthquake.

The OCD-11 directed all LDRRMC and RDRRMC member-agencies to closely monitor their areas of responsibility and coordinate with the RDRRMC-11 EOC for immediate response actions when necessary.