The University of the Philippines Los Baños has been allowed to hold limited and essential in-person classes after the Laguna provincial government approved its request for exemption from the provincewide suspension of face-to-face learning imposed because of earthquake risks.
Chancellor Jose V. Camacho Jr., in a memorandum issued Oct. 16, informed all deans, directors, department chairs and unit heads that UPLB could resume select in-person activities.
These include scheduled examinations, laboratory classes, fieldwork, clinical and internship rotations, human kinetics courses requiring physical participation and exchange-student programs that cannot be effectively conducted online.
The chancellor’s order also covers the UP Rural High School, a laboratory high school under the College of Arts and Sciences.
Faculty members in charge of classes were advised to determine whether their lectures could be delivered online through synchronous or asynchronous modes, with the option to shift to in-person instruction if necessary.
Powerful quakes
A series of powerful earthquakes in various parts of the country prompted Gov. Marisol Aragones Sampelo to suspend face-to-face classes in Laguna from Oct. 14 to 31.
She later convened local officials from the health, education and disaster risk sectors to discuss the potential impact of a major earthquake on the province and to coordinate precautionary measures across affected areas.
Aragones said several communities were found to lie along the West Valley Fault and could be severely affected should a major quake occur. These include San Pedro (Calendola, GSIS, Sampaguita Village, San Antonio, San Vicente, United Bayanihan), Santa Rosa (Santo Domingo), Cabuyao (Casile), Calamba (Canlubang) and Biñan (Poblacion, Malamig, San Francisco).
The governor said that while these areas must remain especially alert because of their proximity to the fault, nearby communities could still feel strong shaking during an earthquake.
‘This is in preparation for the worst-case scenario, but we are hoping that it doesn’t happen at all,’ Aragones said in a video posted on social media.
Last week, two quakes measuring magnitude 7.4 and 6.7 struck the eastern section of Mindanao, killing at least eight people. These followed a magnitude 6.9 earthquake days earlier that killed 76 people and destroyed or damaged 72,000 houses in Cebu province, according to government figures.
Limited but essential on-campus activities
Camacho promptly asked the governor to allow the conduct of limited and essential face-to-face activities on campus.
Sampelo on Oct. 15 granted UPLB’s request for exemption from the provincewide suspension of on-site classes, permitting the conduct of essential and limited on-campus activities under strict safety conditions.
The provincial government required full compliance with safety advisories from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology and the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office. It also ordered strict enforcement of building inspections, emergency preparedness measures and coordination with local authorities for any incidents or safety concerns.
Aragones said the approval was granted with the understanding that ‘the protection of human life remains the foremost consideration.’
She added that with safeguards in place, both the university and the provincial government ‘can take comfort that we have done our part to protect our learners while allowing them to learn and serve in a safe, responsible environment.’
PH prone to earthquakes
Earthquakes occur almost daily in the Philippines, which lies along the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire,’ an arc of intense seismic activity stretching from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.
In 1976, an 8.0-magnitude quake off Mindanao’s southwest coast triggered a tsunami that left 8,000 people dead or missing, the country’s deadliest natural disaster.