Negros Occidental was hit with the highest forecasted heat index on Monday, March 11, prompting the cancellation of face-to-face classes at various levels in 16 of 3l local government units in the province, along with Bacolod City.
State weather bureau PAGASA said the heat index on Monday was 41 degrees Celsius and it will be at 40 on Tuesday necessitating extreme caution.
Face-to-face classes were cancelled in Kabankalan, Himamaylan, Silay, Talisay, Sipalay and Bago cities, and the municipalities of Murcia, EB Magalona, Hinoba-an, La Castellana, Hinigaran, Isabela, Pulupandan, Candoni, Cauayan and Moises Padilla, Irene Bel Ploteña Provincial Disaster Management Program Division (PDMPD) head, said.
Among those also cancelling face-to-face classes on Tuesday are Bacolod and Murcia up to the secondary level, and Bago City and Silay City and the municipalities of Murcia, EB Magalona, Hinoba-an, La Castellana and Pulupandan at all levels.
Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said he was guided by the forecast of PAGASA in the declaration of the suspension of face-to- face classes from elementary to high school in Bacolod City to ensure the safety of students.
This was done in consultation with the Department of Education (DepEd) that will hold modular and online classes, instead, Benitez said.
The number of school days of the students will not be affected by the suspension of face-to-face classes because they shift to alternative modes of leaning from their homes, Arnold Arnaez, spokesman of the DepEd Negros Occidental Division, said.*