Category: Auto Guid

MANILA, Philippines — Several local government units suspended face-to-face classes on Monday, Nov. 24, due to the expected effects of a low-pressure area (LPA) east of the country.

According to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, the LPA was last spotted 715 kilometers east of Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur, and has a high chance of developing into a tropical depression.

Below is the list of areas that have declared suspension of classes for Monday, Nov. 24:

Bicol Region

• Albay – face-to-face classes only, all levels (public and private) 
• Sorsogon City – face-to-face classes only, all levels (public and private) until Nov. 26

/mcm

ILOILO CITY — More than 6,000 schools across the Philippines are under heightened alert for possible flooding and rain-induced landslides as a low-pressure area (LPA), shearline, and the northeast monsoon continue to bring widespread rains, the Department of Education (DepEd) said.

Citing the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) Weather Advisory No. 13, DepEd said the shearline is affecting the eastern section of Northern Luzon, the northeast monsoon is influencing the rest of Northern Luzon, while the Intertropical Convergence Zone is impacting Mindanao.

The LPA is projected to bring additional rains by Monday, November 24.

READ: Lusaran, Cebu City still struggling, families seek rebuilding, school aid

DepEd’s hazard monitoring shows 4,136 schools in 44 divisions at risk of flooding from November 23–24, with rainfall levels expected to reach 50–100 millimeters.

The highest concentration of schools exposed to flooding is in Region 8 or Eastern Visayas (1,811), followed by Region 13 or Caraga (1,237), Region 7 or Central Visayas (522), Region 2 or Cagayan Valley (374), and Region 10 or Northern Mindanao (192).

Flood-prone clusters appear throughout Samar, Leyte, Surigao provinces, as well as parts of Bicol and Northern Mindanao.

Landslide-exposed schools

Meanwhile, 2,326 schools in 42 divisions are threatened by rain-induced landslides, particularly in mountainous or elevated communities.

Region 7 has the largest number of landslide-exposed schools at 969, followed by Region 8 (724), Region 10 (269), Region 2 (208), and Region 13 (156). High and very high susceptibility areas remain concentrated in Eastern Visayas, the Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, and parts of Northern Luzon.

DepEd’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Service urged schools and division offices to work closely with local government units and disaster-response councils, activate School DRRM teams, secure learning materials and equipment, and preposition emergency supplies.

The agency also reminded schools to report incidents through the Incident Management Reporting System.

DepEd said it remains committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of learners and personnel as the country braces for continued rains in the coming days.

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MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson on Sunday revealed that he has rejected offers to be part of a “civil-military junta” that would purportedly replace the government of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.

“There were those inciting and wanting a civil military-junta,” he said in an interview with radio dzBB.

“Some retired military officers have reached out to me, I won’t mention names, I was ignoring them. Some even offered that I be part of the ‘junta’, of the ‘council’. But I did not entertain them.”

“There are so many people with active imaginations. During times of crisis like this, we cannot blame them for thinking up extra-legal and unconstitutional ways, perhaps in their passion to change the system because they saw how systemic corruption has become. That’s where they are coming from,” he added.

Illegal change, violence unwanted

Lacson also rejected proposals such as a so-called “transition council” and a supposed military-backed “reset,” saying they are all unconstitutional.

“Dream on,” he said when asked to comment on those making such proposals.

He also said that public outrage over the corruption behind anomalous flood control projects must continue, but not at the expense of the 1987 Constitution.

“I hope such a military-backed intervention would not happen because nothing good can come of it,” he added.

In rejecting unconstitutional changes of leadership, Lacson pointed out that under the 1987 Constitution, the line of succession ends with the House Speaker.

He said this was why he filed his “Designated Survivor bill,” which extends the line of succession to include the most senior Senate and House members, to prevent disruption of government operations in the event of a disaster or “exceptional circumstances” that leave the president and his constitutional successors dead or disabled.

Lacson also noted that the Catholic Church leadership is not in favor of violence, citing a recent talk he attended with Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines president Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David. /mcm

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MANILA, Philippines — The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Sunday said it is investigating an alleged data breach in its systems.

This came after Scamwatch Pilipinas co-founder Art Samaniego Jr. warned of a possible large-scale government data breach, specifically targeting the DILG.

In a Facebook post, Samaniego wrote that he received information that around 400 gigabytes of data were allegedly exfiltrated in the DILG breach.

The DILG said it is already verifying the claim, with its technical teams and government cybersecurity units “undertaking the appropriate investigative steps.”

“Initial checks show our core services remain stable. We have activated containment and security protocols to protect our data while the investigation continues,” the DILG said in a statement.

“For now, we ask the public not to rely on unverified posts,” it added. /mcm

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — Sixteen years after the world’s deadliest single-day attack on journalists, media practitioners are set to gather on Monday, Nov. 24, to demand continued vigilance and justice for the victims of the Maguindanao massacre.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) – Cagayan de Oro Chapter, in partnership with the Cagayan de Oro Press Club (COPC), will lead a candlelighting ceremony at 4 p.m. at the Press Freedom Monument on the Misamis Oriental Provincial Capitol grounds.

The activity honors the 58 individuals, including 32 media workers, brutally killed in Maguindanao on Nov. 23, 2009 — a tragedy that NUJP-CdO chairperson Franck Dick Rosete called a “stark reminder” of the dangers journalists face in the country.

Beyond remembrance, local media leaders are urging the community to view press freedom as a non-negotiable necessity.

“We must insist — loudly, persistently — that freedom of expression is not a luxury but a foundation. Press freedom is not negotiable but essential,” the COPC statement reads in part.

COPC President Froilan Gallardo challenged the local press to “turn grief into action and turn remembrance into resolve,” stressing the need for legal safeguards to protect independent media and institutions that hold power accountable.

Engaging the next generation

Organizers will also host a discussion with young reporters and campus journalists at 2 p.m., prior to the candlelighting ceremony.

Rosete said the session aims to revisit the facts of the massacre and educate emerging journalists on the importance of defending media rights amid continuing challenges in the landscape.

To amplify the call for full justice for the victims, organizers opened the commemoration activities to media practitioners, students, and concerned citizens. /mcm

HANOI — The death toll from major flooding in Vietnam has risen to 90, with 12 people still missing, the environment ministry said Sunday, after days of heavy rain and landslides.

Relentless rain has lashed south-central Vietnam since late October and popular holiday destinations have been hit by several rounds of flooding.

Whole sections of coastal Nha Trang city were inundated last week, while deadly landslides struck highland passes around the Da Lat tourist hub.

In the hard-hit mountainous province of Dak Lak, 61-year-old farmer Mach Van Si said the floodwaters left him and his wife stranded on their sheet-metal rooftop for two nights.

“Our neighborhood was completely destroyed. Nothing was left. Everything was covered in mud,” he told AFP on Sunday.

By the time they climbed a ladder to their roof, Si said he was no longer scared.

“I just thought we were going to die because there was no way out,” he said.

Vietnam flood death toll

More than 60 deaths recorded since November 16 were in Dak Lak, where tens of thousands of homes were inundated, the environment ministry said in a statement.

Four communes in Dak Lak were still flooded on Sunday, the ministry said.

More than 80,000 hectares of rice and other crops across Dak Lak and four other provinces were damaged in the last week, with over 3.2 million livestock or poultry dead or washed away by floodwaters.

Authorities have used helicopters to airdrop aid to communities cut off by flooding and landslides, with the government deploying tens of thousands of personnel to deliver clothing, water-purification tablets, instant noodles and other supplies to affected areas, state outlet Tuoi Tre News said.

Severe flooding in southern coastal Khanh Hoa province washed away two suspension bridges last week, leaving many households isolated, the outlet said, citing officials.

Several locations on national highways remained blocked on Sunday due to flooding or landslides, according to the environment ministry, and some railway sections were still suspended.

Economic losses

More than 129,000 customers remained without electricity, after more than a million were without power last week.

The environment ministry on Sunday estimated economic losses of $343 million across five provinces due to the floods.

Natural disasters have left 279 people dead or missing in Vietnam and caused more than $2 billion in damage between January and October, according to the national statistics office.

The Southeast Asian nation is prone to heavy rain between June and September, but scientists have identified a pattern of human-driven climate change making extreme weather more frequent and destructive. 

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