MANILA Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso blamed unpredictable weather conditions for the delayed class suspension on Aug. 17 and vowed to make future announcements earlier, following widespread public criticism, particularly from students stranded by flooding on campuses across the capital.
Domagoso said the city government would continue to rely on available scientific and technological data in deciding whether to suspend classes.
“Kung ano po ang makikita namin, base sa siyensya at teknolohiya, o siya po namin namang pagpapasyahan ulit, tulad ng dati, ay pipilitin namin laging maging maaga ang ating pagpapasya,” he said during his “Talk to the People” livestream on Facebook on Aug. 18.
(Whatever we see based on science and technology will guide our decision. As before, we will always try to make our decisions early.)
“At ‘yan yung tipo ng pagpapasya na minsan ay, talaga pong, aminin na po namin, minsan hindi namin talaga… hindi nag-text yung ulap, e. Talagang malikot,” Domagoso added.
(That is the kind of decision-making where, sometimes, we have to admit that we really cannot predict what will happen… the clouds did not text us. They are really unpredictable.)
Domagoso said the city government was trying to balance student safety with the need to ensure continuity of education.
College students in Manila took to social media to complain about the late suspension on Aug. 17, saying some had already traveled from other cities before classes were called off.
The Manila city government had announced on Aug. 16 the suspension of classes due to the southwest monsoon, or habagat, but only from kindergarten to senior high school.
At UST, Thomasians waded through floodwaters while others were stranded inside the campus as España Boulevard and nearby roads quickly flooded before the suspension was announced at about 10:30 a.m.
Academic and administrative units, including the UST Central Student Council and Student Organizations Coordinating Council, provided food, overnight shelter, and medication to those stranded.
The Manila city government also provided the Thomasian community with 1,200 food packs, 30 boxes of water, and 3,000 doses of doxycycline.
Domagoso lauded the University’s decision to keep stranded students and personnel on campus, saying other institutions could adopt similar measures when the city government’s emergency-response capacity is stretched.
“I would like to praise the initiative of UST leadership, na huwag nang ilabas ‘yung kanilang mga na-stranded na populasyon inside the facility,” he said.
(I would like to praise the initiative of the UST leadership to keep those stranded inside the campus.)
“[T]his type of initiative is very important … because Manila is the host of almost all schools in the city. Kaya bagay na amin itong binibigay na baka pwedeng tularan ng iba pa in a given situation,” he added.
(This type of initiative is very important because Manila hosts almost all schools in the city. We are presenting this as something other institutions may consider adopting in a similar situation.)
In a Malacañang press briefing on Aug. 18, Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon blamed old, clogged drainage systems along España Boulevard for the severe flooding that left the area impassable.
UST Secretary General Fr. Louie Coronel, O.P. told the Varsitarian the University was preparing recalibrated crisis-response guidelines following the flooding.
Coronel said UST was also considering whether it should eventually decide on class suspensions based on its own assessment of campus conditions, rather than wait for an announcement from the city government. Paolo Emmanuel D.C. Blanco with reports from Jed L. Ampongan, Alexandra S. Demaisip, and Tatyana Sabeerah R. Maranan
