GUV LIFTS SUSPENSION OF CLASSES IN NEGROS ORIENTAL AS HEAT INDEX DROPS

Negros Oriental Governor Manuel Sagarbarria ordered the lifting of the suspension of classes at all levels in both public and private schools across the province, citing a better projection of lower heat indices in the coming days.

The move came just two days after the governor declared the suspension of classes province-wide under Executive Order No. 24 due to extreme heat index at the time, which was bordering on the tipping point to be considered

“danger” as classified by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).

Sagarbarria cited in his latest executive order on the lifting of the suspension, the local Pagasa representative said during a meeting yesterday at the Capitol that “the temperature forecast for the province for the coming week and onward will be below the danger category of heat indices.”

As of 4:00 p.m. yesterday, the heat index based on the Pagasa radar here was at 36.1 degrees Celsius.

Earlier this week, Negros Oriental was projected to reach as high as 39 degrees Celsius in some parts of the province.

Some institutions have also sought the lifting of the suspension of classes, saying they had air-conditioned classrooms as well as other measures to counter the searing temperatures.

Meanwhile, the governor, through Provincial Administrator Arthur Fran Tolcidas, in the same meeting urged the local government units (LGUs) to make an assessment and submit a report of the damage caused by the El Niño.

Adrian Sedillo, executive director of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO), told the Philippine News Agency one of the highlights of the meeting was to determine if there was a need to declare a state of calamity in the province.

Sedillo said, based on certain parameters, the current situation in Negros Oriental does not warrant the declaration of such.

However, LGUs have the discretion to declare a state of calamity at the local level if the damage and losses incurred due to the El Niño are met, he said.

When more than two LGUs are already under a state of calamity, the provincial government can then follow suit, he added.

As of now, the Department of Agriculture said only 11 LGUs have so far submitted damage reports with some only having complete data.

The DRRMOs in the cities and municipalities and the Provincial Agriculturist’s Office have been tapped to help obtain the necessary data to guide the province in its El Niño mitigating measures and interventions in the coming days, Sedillo said.