CEBU CITY -- Classes are suspended for two weeks starting today, Monday, in this city and nearly all of Cebu Province after a series of aftershocks Sunday made local officials rethink a plan to resume classes.
The only exception is Lapu-Lapu City, where Mayor Paz Radaza assured that all the public schools have been inspected and cleared.
Children were at home for a nationwide religious holiday when a 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit Bohol, Cebu and other parts of the Visayas at 8:12 a.m. last Tuesday. Since then, 2,104 aftershocks have occurred, 27 of them on Sunday. One at 4:40 a.m. registered a magnitude of 5.1.
Under a revised order, classes in all public schools will resume on November 4 in the cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Talisay and in towns under the Cebu Provincial Government.
It is up to administrators of private schools to decide when classes can resume, but local and Department of Education officials asked them to make sure their buildings are safe.
The decision to resume classes in Lapu-Lapu City triggered appeals from parents who were worried that aftershocks might cause the children to panic.
Interviewed separately, DepEd Cebu Provincial Superintendent Arden Monisit said Governor Hilario Davide III ordered to suspend the classes further in all public schools because of a series of strong aftershocks Sunday morning.
“We agreed to resume the classes on November 4 for the safety of all students and pupils,” Monisit said in a phone interview.
There are 1,122 public elementary and high schools under the DepEd Cebu Province Division. Monisit said 78 schools reported badly damaged classrooms after the 7.2-magnitude earthquake last October 15.
The earthquake damaged 273 classrooms.
Dr. Carmelita Dulangon, Department of Education (Deped)-Central Visayas director, revealed that the Bogo City Government had originally decided to resume classes today (Monday), because their public and private schools incurred only minor damage during the quake.
But the officials decided to suspend classes until Wednesday due to the aftershocks, she added.
The Bohol Provincial Government, led by Governor Edgar Chatto, has also confirmed classes in all levels are suspended until Wednesday. The governor and mayors can also decide to postpone classes further.
Lapu-Lapu City’s Mayor Radaza, said her consultant Jonji Gonzales, will visit schools today (Monday).
She has also urged DepEd “to be sensitive to the needs of children who might still be traumatized by the earthquake, by not insisting on letting them attend classes on the higher floors should they resist and instead just hold classes somewhere on the ground floor.”
The decision to resume classes was reportedly made in consultation with DepEd Division Superintendent Eduardo Ompad.
In Cebu City, Mayor Michael Rama announced that classes at all levels in both public and private schools in Cebu City will remain suspended.
In towns, the decision to suspend classes rests on the mayors, who know the local situation best, Dr. Dulangon explained.
Dulangon believes it would be better, though, if classes will be suspended so that classrooms can be checked again.
Work in the DepEd regional office will continue, despite the suspension of classes, she said.
Based on the records of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), there were more than 15 aftershocks recorded from 1:52 a.m. until 4:39 Sunday afternoon.
The strongest aftershocks occurred at 4:40 a.m. (5.1 magnitude) and 9:45 a.m. (5). Phivolcs has cautioned that while aftershocks will be weaker than the main quake, they can still destroy structures that were already damaged by earlier tremors.
At the command center at Cebu City Hall, Jeffrey Perez of Phivolcs said Sunday's tremors were not new earthquakes but aftershocks.
“These were related to the main earthquake because the epicenter is located in the same fault zone area,” he said.
Due to the tremors, Rama, with the concurrence of DepEd Cebu City School’s Division Superintendent Rhea Mar Angtud, decided to suspend classes at all levels.
Classes will resume on November 4.
Angtud said that at least P30 million is needed to repair damaged classrooms in the public schools of Cebu City.
Of the 122 public elementary and secondary schools (which have a total of 3,445 classrooms, 531 classrooms (about 15 percent) have been declared unsafe for occupancy.
Angtud said she has already sought the help of the City’s Local School Board headed by former city councilor Jose Daluz III for the classrooms’ repair.
The repairs, she said, can be charged to the P235-million Special Education Fund of the City for this year.
Asked about the matter, Daluz said the City will procure an initial of P12 million worth of construction materials, through an emergency purchase.
He hopes that the City can acquire the materials soon so the classrooms will be repaired and ready to be used when classes resume on November 4.
In Mandaue, classes in all levels, both public and private, will resume on November 4 to give the City and DepEd ample time to inspect and repair damaged classrooms.
City Administrator James Abadia said 65 public school classrooms in Mandaue need major repairs.
He said the City Engineering Office will put up partitions in gymnasiums where some of the classes can be held.
At least four classrooms can be accommodated in one gymnasium. But even with the gymnasiums, Abadia said the City will still need 35 more classrooms.
“We might be using tents just to accommodate our students,” he said.
Monisit and Davide earlier required schools to send a certification from their municipal engineers that their classrooms are structurally safe to be able to resume their classes today, Monday.
Though many schools submitted a certification last Saturday, Monisit said he and Davide decided to move the schedule for the resumption of classes after the strong aftershocks Sunday morning. (Sun.Star Cebu)
