Palace ...

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque made the statement after President Duterte said it would be a disaster to allow students to go back to school when a vaccine for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is yet to be made available.

In an interview with ANC, Roque reiterated that the government will not put the students at risk.

“The President is correct: We will never allow, expose our children to any form of danger,” he said Wednesday morning.

Despite this, Roque said the Department of Education (DepEd) was already preparing for the August 24 opening which is based on the assumption that the country will already be under the new normal.

“It means that there’s no more community quarantine enforced because for as long as there is a community quarantine, schools will remain shut,” he said.

“So in other words, the assumption is by August 24 we would be under a new normal and that’s why we have to prepare kasi hindi naman pupwede na no preparation at all,” he added.

The new normal is the next step when an area graduates from the modified general community quarantine (MGCQ).

In the event that the Philippines is still not under the new normal by August 24, Roque said the DepEd was also preparing for blended learning where other options aside from the Internet will be utilized.

“The reality is there are still far-flung areas without Wi-Fi. So in addition to online learning, we will be tapping community radio stations, community TV stations, PTV-4, and even private companies such as ABS-CBN for instructional purposes,” he said.

“[But] blended learning does not completely preclude faceto-face. In fact, there may have to be small meetings just for assessment purposes. That’s why it’s called blended. We can be creative about it,” he added.

The Palace official however said that enrolment will also push through despite the circumstances.