Announcements on class suspensions are usually formal but one social media account of a local government unit made light of it on a rainy Tuesday morning.
Before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared the suspension of classes and government work in the National Capital Region and in nearby provinces on August 23, the page of Valenzuela City posted a publication material that went viral.
“As of August 23, 2022, 10:30 am. Para sa mga natatanong kung may pasok po ba ngayong araw,” it captioned.
“ALL LEVELS. OO, MAY PASOK. Public and Private Schools,” the pubmat reads.
It has quickly gained viral with over 64,000 likes and laughing reactions, 5,300 comments and 16,000 shares on Facebook.
Filipinos also found the comments section equally amusing due to the page administrator’s remarks.
“Di po kami galit,” it said in the comments with a smiling-face-with-halo emoji.
“Kaway-kaway sa mga taga OLFU dyan!” the page added with a waving hand emoji. It is referring to the Valenzuela campus of Our Lady of Fatima University.
“Attendance check lang tayo mga bhie,” it also commented.
The page administrator also responded to one of the Facebook users who commented on the post with emojis: “Attitude ka ghorl hahaha.”
“Hindi po. Forda angel ang ferson today,” the page said with a baby angel face emoji.
But a few minutes before 1 p.m., the president declared the suspension of classes in public schools and government work in NCR, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Bulacan, Zambales and Bataan until August 24, Wednesday.
Marcos made the declaration after the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council recommended public school classes and government work be halted “due to the continuous heavy rainfall brought about by [the] southwest monsoon enhanced” by Severe Tropical Storm “Florita.”
“The same course of action for private schools and offices is left to the discretion of their respective heads,” the Office of the Press Secretary said in a statement.
Valenzuela City, in response, reshared a post of a national broadsheet about the class and government work suspension update.
“#WalangPasok: President Bongbong Marcos suspends government work and classes in public schools (all levels) in NCR, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Bulacan, Zambales, and Bataan from August 23-24, 2022 due to #FloritaPH,” it said on Facebook on 1:19 p.m, resharing The Philippine STAR’s post.
The announcement came a day after the return of face-to-face classes nationwide.
The in-person classes will be fully implemented in November but until then, the current mode of learning is a mixture of in-person and distance learning.
Before the classes and government work suspension, the country’s sixth tropical cyclone for the year made landfall over the area of Maconacon, Isabela at 10:30 a.m.
“Florita” is now in the vicinity of Alcala, Cagayan, according to the state weather bureau’s 2 p.m. bulletin.
PAGASA said it has maximum sustained winds of 110 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 185 kilometers per hour.
It is moving west-northwestward at 20 kilometers per hour, packed with “strong to storm-force winds” extending outwards up to 300 kilometers from its center.
“Florita” is forecast to exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Wednesday morning.