P-Noy renews guidelines
on suspension of classes

President Benigno Aquino III has expanded the existing protocol on the cancellation or suspension of classes and work in government due to typhoons to include flooding, calamities and other weather disturbances in order to avoid the loss of lives, a press release from the Office of the President said.

Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. said yesterday the President issued Executive Order No. 66 on January 9, streamlining and simplifying the procedures for the cancellation or suspension of classes in public and private schools and work in government offices due to calamities.

“This presidential issuance is an assertion of the State’s declared policy to institutionalize measures that will ensure that the general public, including students and state workers, will be safe from needless hazards and that their lives and limbs will be safeguarded,” Ochoa said.

GUIDELINES

EO 66 has set the following guidelines in the cancellation or suspension of classes in public and private schools and work in government:

*Signal No. 1 - Classes at the pre-school level, in the affected area, shall be automatically cancelled or suspended.

*Signal No. 2 - Classes at the pre-school, elementary and secondary levels, in the affected area, shall be automatically cancelled or suspended.

*Signal No. 3 - Classes at pre-school, elementary, secondary and tertiary levels, in the affected area, including graduate school, as well as work in all government offices, shall be automatically cancelled or suspended.

President Aquino also directed the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration to issue weather forecasts through various media outlets, including radio and television, not later than 10 p.m. of the previous day and 4:30 a.m. of the day of the intended cancellation or suspension of classes and work.

The President, however, said that in the event where there are classes and work in the morning and suspension of classes and work is only effective in the afternoon, PAGASA should issue the forecast not later than 11 a.m. of the said day, the press release said.

TYPHOON SIGNALS

At the same time, EO 66 provides that in the absence of typhoon signal warnings from PAGASA, the local chief executives shall implement localized cancellation or suspension of classes and government work in coordination with the weather bureau and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), particularly in flood-prone or high risk areas.

The local chief executives serve as chairpersons of the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

EO 66 sets the announcements of the cancellation or suspension not later than 4:30 a.m. of the same day or not later than 11 a.m. for suspension of classes and work in the afternoon. The announcement should be made through different media outlets, landline communications and other technologies for communication within the community or locality.

In areas affected by disasters other than typhoons, classes in all levels in both public and private schools and government work shall only be cancelled or suspended upon the declaration by the President of a state of calamity on recommendation of the NDRRMC.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The concerned LDRRM Office must then be responsible for the announcement of the suspension of classes and government work in the affected areas in coordination with the NDRRMC through various media outlets available under the circumstances.

EO 66 tasks the NDRRMC to immediately inform the Office of the President, through the Executive Secretary, of any or all cancellation or suspension of classes and government work in the affected areas.

President Aquino, nevertheless, directed government agencies directly involved in disaster risk reduction and management to maintain the operations of their respective offices to ensure the continuity of the delivery of public service. The heads of the concerned government agencies shall determine which of their respective divisions or units shall maintain its operations.

These government offices are the Office of the Executive Secretary and the Departments of National Defense, the Interior and Local Government, Social Welfare and Development, Science and Technology, Health, Public Works and Highways, and Education, among others, which operations the President or the NDRRMC may deem necessary.

The EO states that the OP, through the Executive Secretary, shall have concurrent authority with the NDRRMC to cancel or suspend classes and work in government offices during disasters, the press release added.*

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US embassy closed Jan. 16

The Embassy of the United States in Manila and its affiliated offices will be closed to the public on Monday, January 16, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, an American holiday, and will resume its services January 17, an embassy press release said.

The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), who is remembered in the United States on the third Monday of January each year, is perhaps best known as America’s chief spokesman for nonviolent activism as a result of his leadership role in the U.S. civil rights movement.

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed into law legislation making King’s birthday a federal holiday. In 1994, the U.S. Congress designated the King holiday as a national day of service, calling on Americans from walks of life to volunteer their time and effort on that day to help realize King’s vision of a “beloved community”, the press release added.*

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17 complete free
call center training

Seventeen aspiring call center agents completed their 100-hour free Call Center training yesterday at the Negros Occidental Language and Information Technology Center in Bacolod City.

The scholarship was funded by the Provincial Government of Negros Occidental and Technical Education Skills Development Authority, a NOLITC press release said.

Jose Ma. Valencia, who represented the governor in the 2nd culmination ceremony, told the graduates that the training center is a priority program of the administration and a legacy program of the late Governor Joseph Marañon.

He challenged the Batch 3 graduates to do their best in their future work, be dedicated and help their families.

Japhet Masculino, EEDD Head, stressed that NOLITC is part of the province’s priority agenda on education, giving importance to the out-of-school youth and the unemployed.

Johanna Ochia, a former overseas filipino worker, said the scholarship made a great difference in her life, while Shiela Babiera thanked the governor and the officials of the province for the scholarship.

The NOLITC continues to accept applicants for the free call center training.*

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Garay keynotes
RSSPC 2012

Regional Director Mildred Garay of the Department of Education  challenged more than 1000 journalists and secondary school paper advisers to start purging ideas about unpleasant things in the country and be the best’ during the opening of the 2012 Regional Secondary Schools Press Conference on January 6, 2012 at Bacolod Pavilion Hotel, Bacolod City.

In her first RSPC attendance as regional director, Garay asked  the participants to become the best version of  themselves and shared her past as a student journalist and as the cream of the crop of her generation, a press release from the Secondary Advisers’ Association said.

Bacolod City schools division superintendent Gemma Ledesma welcomed the participants to the two-day press conference.

Jude Thaddeus Iledan, regional supervisor and journalism in-charge, introduced the participants from secondary schools in Region 6 while Dr. Lilibeth Estoque, Curriculum and Learning Management Division chief of DepEd 6 declared the RSSPC 2012 officially open.

Also present were Josanlo Caldera, president of the Regional Secondary School Paper Advisers’ Association, Janalyn Navarro, Riza Gea, and Marjorie Bastida, education supervisors of the Divisions of Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, and Silay City and Luisa Medel National High School principal Gladys Amylaine Sales.*

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