By Shayne Elizabeth T. Flores

In light of the three-day heat index forecast by the Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO), Far Eastern University (FEU) students urged the University admin and Manila Local Government Unit (LGU) to suspend classes early, highlighting the ‘inconvenient’ late announcement today, March 3.

MDRRMO projected that the heat is expected to reach dangerous levels of 42 and 43 degrees Celsius today and tomorrow, March 4, respectively. Meanwhile, the temperature was initially expected to peak at an extreme cautionary level of 40 degrees Celsius on March 5, but rose to a dangerous level of 42 degrees Celsius per MDRRMO’s latest update.

In an interview with FEU Advocate, second-year Visual Communication student Julia Latrell Corbett underscored the importance of early class suspensions.

“They should plan the suspensions early on before making the cut since it'll become a hassle if announced late and students are already in their classes and suffering under the heat,” she stated.

Similarly, second-year Psychology student Francia Cayaba suggested switching to online learning modality for March 4 and 5 to compensate for the class suspension. 

“I believe that the LGU and FEU should switch to online classes muna since the heat-index would reach a dangerous level just like today. It would be better for the safety of both the students and the faculty,” she said.

Given the projected rise in temperature from the initial 36 to 38 degrees Celsius range felt in the morning, the Manila LGU suspended afternoon classes for all levels in both public and private schools.

Accordingly, FEU canceled classes starting at 12 p.m. in both the Manila and Makati campuses.

While their calls for suspension were heeded, FEU students flocked One Piyu Community (OPC) Facebook group to express their frustrations with the late notice since most of them were already in school.

“It was very inconvenient for me since commuter ako, and medyo matagal pa travel time ko bago makarating sa FEU. So sayang din pamasahe kasi nag-suspend lang si mayor [Dr. Honey Lacuna] kung kailan kakarating ko lang sa FEU, and ‘yung class ko rin that time is naabutan na ng suspension kaya hindi na tinuloy (It was very inconvenient for me since I’m a commuter and I have a long travel time before arriving at FEU. So it’s a waste of fare because the mayor suspended the classes when I just arrived at FEU, and my class at the time was covered by the suspension),” Cayaba stated.

Moreover, FEU Institute of Arts and Sciences Sportsfest student concessionaires, especially food stalls with perishable products, also decried the sudden halt to their operations, which compromised their sales quota.

In a separate online interview, fourth-year Political Science student and Patrina Bakes owner Patricia Agtutubo stated that she would not have prepared her pastry products if the suspension had been announced earlier.

“I wouldn’t have prepared so much to sell and [now] some of them are just going to be wasted instead of being sold so it’s a tough loss for my business,” she said.

Along with other student concessionaires, Agtutubo resorted to OPC for assistance in selling as many products as possible upon the announcement.

Despite the high temperature forecasts, FEU and Manila LGU have yet to make an announcement regarding the Tuesday and Wednesday classes.

(Photo by Raph Bautista/FEU Advocate)