School-aged children approach a coast guardsman during a program in Pag-asa Island. Photo
courtesy of Philippine Coast Guard
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Thursday said that opening classes and the nationwide conduct of in-person classes were “mostly peaceful,” with no untoward events reported in any major cities.
“So far, generally peaceful ang pagbubukas ng mga klase simula noong Lunes, wala naman pong natalang any untoward incident ‘di lamang sa Metro Manila pati na rin sa malalaking region gaya po ng Central Luzon, Calabarzon and even po diyan sa Cebu at Davao,” said PNP spokesperson Jean Fajardo during the Laging Handa public briefing.
(So far, the opening of classes has been generally peaceful since Monday. There has not been any untoward incident recorded, not only in Metro Manila but also in large regions such as Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and even in Cebu and Davao.)
“Naging maayos naman po ‘yung daloy ng pagbubukas ng klase,” she added.
(The opening of classes went smoothly.)
Face-to-face classes for the school year 2022-2023 began on Monday, August 22, marking the end of the school lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which prevented students from physically attending their classes for two years.
After Monday’s class, however, inclement weather due to Severe Tropical Storm Florita prompted President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to declare the suspension of classes in certain areas in Luzon, including Metro Manila.
As of August 23, the Department of Education (DepEd) said that 28,797,660 learners have enrolled for the school year, with 24,175 schools implementing five-day face-to-face classes at 29,721.