EDITORIAL - Proper timing needed for class suspensions

When President Aquino transferred the authority to declare class suspensions in the event of inclement weather from the Department of Education to local officials, it was with an eye to more precise and faster responses to weather-related threats.

As it was then, what action DepEd had to take on such threats always depended on what the Pagasa had to say. But Pagasa issues bulletins only at specific times of the day, and had to rely solely on media to disseminate it. Clearly, the situation needed tweaking to serve the purpose.

So Aquino took the authority from DepEd and gave it to local officials, who presumably knew the situation on the ground at all times. The authority, however, covered only elementary and high school as college was under a different entity — the Commission for Higher Education.

By and large, the new arrangement seemed to work. The new system got tested a couple of times in Cebu and the decisions made by local officials in facing weather-related threats were invariably described is appropriate and deserving praise.

That is until last Wednesday when Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama surprised everyone by ordering the suspension of classes even if there was no specific weather-related threat to the city, or even to Cebu as a whole.

In fairness to Rama, Cebu was experiencing some rains at the time, apparently as an effect of a tropical depression in Mindanao. But Cebu was under no storm warning signal. In fact, even in Mindanao where the depression was, the highest level of warning was only Signal No. 1.

Okay, it is easy to say that Rama was moved only by the best of intentions. But one still has to balance the best of intentions with the effects of a reckless decision, especially if such decision was based on personal fears rather than professional expertise.

Moreover, even if Rama felt he had to make a decision, he should have given it sooner. As it turned out, the announcement came too late as many schoolchildren were already on their way to school, only to find on getting there that classes were suspended.

The late announcement defeated the purpose of the suspension as schoolchildren knew of it too late, after having been exposed to the elements they were supposed to be shielded from in the first place. Did Rama not know that in Cebu City, some classes start even as early as 5 a.m.?