By Joseph Bernard A. Marzan
As Iloilo City grapples with a severe heatwave, Mayor Jerry Treñas has extended the suspension of face-to-face (F2F) classes, impacting students from the basic to collegiate levels.
The new mandate comes through Executive Order No. 047-B Series of 2024, effective for Wednesday, April 3, and applies to all public and private institutions, extending even to those pursuing graduate studies.
The order builds on the initial suspension that began on April 1, under EO No. 047, prompted by the extreme temperatures recorded since Holy Week.
Schools with adequate air conditioning may continue in-person sessions, subject to the judgment of their administrative heads.
F2F classes from pre-school to senior high school levels have been suspended since Monday, April 1, via EO No. 047 due to the high heat temperatures since the Holy Week from March 24 to 31.
Other areas in the Western Visayas region, in Capiz and Negros Occidental provinces, have also relatively suspended F2F classes.
CITY WATER SITUATION
Treñas said that he had met with the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) and the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) has alerted him that shallow wells in the city were in danger of depletion.
He estimated that up to 15,000 households no longer had water in their own wells.
The mayor hinted at a possible state of calamity declaration citing the persistence of the heat temperatures and the lowering water levels.
The city government is currently doing an inventory of barangays with their own water tank facilities, which may be the ones to receive augmented water supply.
“The situation is not good, because many shallow wells no longer have water, while some are at a low level. The CDRRMO and the CENRO will be coordinating with the Metro Pacific [Iloilo Water] on what to do, and most probably we might be meeting [on Wednesday],” he told media.
“The problem, really, is the water for bathing and washing dishes, because the people have been buying water at refilling stations to drink,” he added.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration’s (PAGASA) latest forecast as of 5:00 p.m. of Tuesday, April 2, indicated that heat in the city is expected to persist at 41 degrees Celsius today, April 3, and 42 degrees Celsius on Thursday, April 4.
