Schools may reopen during LGU class suspensions under new Marcos order

MANILA, Philippines — Schools will be allowed to resume in-person classes even while a mayor's or governor's class suspension is still in force, under an executive order signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that updates rules on calling off classes during disasters.

Executive Order 130, signed on October 28 and originally proposed by the Department of Education (DepEd), lets a school reopen earlier than a city- or province-wide suspension if an assessment shows its campus is safe and accessible, and the local chief executive concurs. 

The new order replaces Executive Order 66 of 2012, signed under former President Benigno Aquino III.

The order recognizes a need to "rationalize and harmonize" the different rules governing the suspension of in-person classes and on-site government work.

EO 130 covers all public and private schools and learning centers, including colleges and technical-vocational schools. 

The executive order stated that schools can also, in turn, decide to resume classes on their own during a local suspension with a documented site assessment and the concurrence of the mayor or governor. 

This option applies only to localized suspensions declared by local officials, not to those triggered automatically by hazard warnings.

Local chief executives also must now name the areas a suspension covers, down to barangays and, where practicable, individual schools, and state how long it will last. 

They are to consult barangay captains, the schools division superintendent and private school heads as needed.  

Classes resume once a suspension lapses or a warning is lifted, downgraded or expires, but only after required safety inspections.  

The order also states that suspending in-person classes "shall not automatically suspend learning." 

Schools must shift to alternative delivery where feasible, and staff to alternative work arrangements.

The order no longer spells out which grade levels are to suspend in-person instruction under each storm signal. Previously, EO 66 called off preschool under Signal No. 1, classes up to high school under Signal No. 2, and all levels and government work under Signal No. 3 or higher.

Those thresholds will instead be set in guidelines that DepEd must issue within 30 days of the order taking effect. 

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