PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan -- Three towns in Palawan suspended their classes Friday due to possible effects of Typhoon Ompong, which is expected to aggravate the southwest monsoon.
San Vicente and Balabac towns have suspended classes in all levels while Taytay declared no classes only at the elementary level, said Grace Estefano, information officer of the Department of Education (DepEd) Schools Division Office in Palawan.
Estefano said the suspension of classes in the three towns was declared by their municipal chief executives.
A DepEd memorandum order she sent to the media from their regional office did not suggest any cancellation but only “precautionary measures to be undertaken” regarding “Ompong”.
Signed by Benjamin Paragas, DepEd director III and officer-in-charge regional director, the memorandum is addressed to schools division superintendents, information officers, and disaster risk reduction focal persons.
It identified precautionary measures, such as the safekeeping of school books, pertinent files and other important materials; securing weak parts and electrical wirings of their schools; monitoring schools in landslide-prone areas; and closely coordinating with local government units (LGUs).
In the province, Palawan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO) chief Jerry Alili said so far, “no municipality has implemented any preemptive evacuation."
“Ang report sa atin ng sitwasyon ay cloudy with light rains lang sa mga mino-monitor na municipalities (The situational reports we are getting said the skies are cloudy with only light rains),” he said.
In Calamianes, composed of the island towns of Coron, Culion, Busuanga, and Linapacan, he said the weather has been observed to be "cloudy with no untoward incident so far."
In southern Palawan's nine municipalities, the weather is "cloudy with light rains."
In the northern area, he said it is "sunny" in the municipality of Roxas, but cloudy with light rains in nine others.
A statement released Wednesday by the Provincial Information Office said the PDRRMO and the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO) have prepared 5,430 food packs; 256 rice bags; 523 gallons of mineral water; and other non-food relief items.
Kalayaan island town in the disputed West Philippine Sea waters, where “Ompong” is expected to traverse, has not suspended classes, said Joy Gabinete, assistant in the municipal DRRMO.
“Wala pong suspension ng classes kasi di naman ganoon kalakas ang ulan. Occasional rainfalls lang at yong dagat moderate-to-rough na occasional lang din (There is no suspension of classes because the rains are not that strong. Only occasional rainfalls and the sea waves are moderate to rough, which are also occasional),” Gabinete said.
She said there are currently 47 households in the island municipality composed of less than a hundred residents who can "immediately evacuate to their training center just in case."
Gabinete noted they also have enough rice and other food supply stocks.
“We prepared early in the municipal DRRMO in case Ompong will bring us strong winds and waves,” she added. (PNA)
