- Schools can now suspend or resume classes themselves under a new executive order
- A year after Typhoon Tino, survivors ask for accountability and experts ask for funded flood projects
- Hospitals, health centres and water systems must keep 72 hours of backup power for El Niño
- 19 people rescued after a pump boat from Bohol sank off Lapu-Lapu
- Isolated thunderstorms likely, and a typhoon far outside the country
Schools can now suspend or resume classes themselves under a new executive order
President Marcos signed Executive Order 130 on 28 October, and it was made public on Tuesday, 3 November. It sets three ways to stop in-person classes. Automatic: classes stop with no declaration when a PAGASA, Phivolcs or Environmental Management Bureau warning meets set thresholds. Localized: mayors can suspend classes in parts of their area after a documented risk assessment. Granular: a school can suspend its own classes when neither applies and its campus is unsafe, in coordination with the mayor. Schools can also reopen early with a safety check and the mayor's agreement.
Parents in Carcar may now hear about a suspension from the school itself, not only from City Hall or the Capitol. The thresholds for automatic suspensions are not set yet: DepEd has 30 days to issue the guidelines. Because the Environmental Management Bureau is named, bad-air days like the October smog suspensions could fall under the automatic rule. A suspension is not a day off from learning: schools are expected to switch to modules or online work where they can.
Sources: Rappler, SunStar, SunStar Superbalita Cebu
A year after Typhoon Tino, survivors ask for accountability and experts ask for funded flood projects
Today, 4 November, is one year since Typhoon Tino flooded large parts of Cebu. Survivors and families held a Mass and rally at Cotcot Bridge in Liloan on Tuesday, organized by a survivors' network that wants an investigation into flood control projects that failed to protect people. Engineers and planners quoted by SunStar blame narrowed rivers, garbage, upland development and concrete that turns most rain into runoff, and say Cebu's flood plans are not tied to its budgets. Homes have been rebuilt in some of the worst-hit areas of Cebu City and Talisay.
Carcar has its own rivers and creeks, so the same lessons apply here: keep drainage clear of garbage, know your barangay's evacuation site, and take flood warnings seriously when heavy rain falls on the hills. Even in an El Niño year, a single storm can still bring a day of very heavy rain.
Sources: The Freeman, SunStar, SunStar
Hospitals, health centres and water systems must keep 72 hours of backup power for El Niño
A Department of Energy circular, DC2026-0114, requires hospitals, rural health units, emergency medical services, water supply facilities and DSWD food hubs to have generators or renewable systems that can run for at least 72 hours without grid power, and to update their continuity plans. Facilities in high-risk and off-grid areas get priority. The DOE says 55 new power projects, about 2,365 MW, were finished as of 26 October, with 28 more due by year-end. DSWD 7 says it is prepositioning food and relief goods across Central Visayas and coordinating with local governments in Cebu and Bohol.
The Cebu Provincial Hospital in Carcar, the city health office and water systems are the kind of facility the rule covers, so ask them about their backup if you depend on them. At home, the DOE's advice is the usual: aircon at about 24°C, unplug what you are not using. Carcar's power comes mostly from CEBECO I, which draws on the Visayas grid that has been on repeated alerts.
Sources: The Freeman, Power Philippines
19 people rescued after a pump boat from Bohol sank off Lapu-Lapu
Nineteen passengers, including children and a senior citizen, were rescued early on Tuesday, 3 November, after their pump boat sank about 700 metres off Punta Engaño in Lapu-Lapu City. They had left Getafe, Bohol, at about 2:30 a.m. after Kalag-Kalag, heading for Pasil in Cebu City, when seawater entered the boat and the engine failed. A passing ferry and the Coast Guard picked everyone up, and all were reported in good condition. Lapu-Lapu's disaster office said it is still checking whether the boat was overloaded.
If you are heading home from Bohol or the islands after the long weekend, take a licensed ferry where you can, wear a life jacket on small boats, and avoid crossing in the dark when the sea is choppy.
Sources: SunStar, The Philippine Star
Isolated thunderstorms likely, and a typhoon far outside the country
PAGASA's Visayas forecast for Wednesday, 4 November, is partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms, light to moderate northeast winds and slight to moderate seas. A thunderstorm watch issued on Tuesday night listed Cebu among provinces where storms are more likely. Typhoon In-Fa is outside the Philippine area of responsibility, about 1,770 km east-northeast of northern Luzon, moving north-northwest. No heavy rainfall warning is up for Cebu.
Bring an umbrella for the afternoon commute and stay off open fields when you hear thunder. The typhoon is far outside the Philippine area and PAGASA has issued no warning for Cebu.
