Despite CHED order, why did Palace suspend college classes?

In a rare instance, Malacañang took charge of suspending classes in the tertiary level in Metro Manila on Wednesday despite a Commission on Higher Education (CHED) policy that the agency-in-charge generally cannot order blanket class suspensions. Speaking to GMA News Online, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said the suspension of Wednesday’s classes in universities and colleges in Metro Manila – announced through Lacierda’s Twitter account at 11:44 p.m. on Tuesday – was a special case. Earlier projections that Tropical Storm Juaning will directly hit Metro Manila were “strong enough to warrant a suspension," according to Lacierda. Other areas in southern and Central Luzon, while also threatened by Juaning, were not covered by the Palace's class suspension order. Lacierda said he, along with members of the Communications Group, announced the suspension as ordered by Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. and upon the recommendation by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) on Tuesday evening. Lacierda said he, Communications Strategy Secretary Ricky Carandang, Communications Undersecretary Manuel Quezon III, and deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte were aware of a standing CHED order on class suspensions. In the clarificatory guidelines issued by CHED chairperson Patricia Licuanan in 2010, the agency said it leaves the decision on college class suspensions to higher education institutions (HEIs) or local governments, except when a storm reaches Signal No. 3, which should automatically result in the suspension of classes. Juaning only reached Signal No. 2 on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the storm changed course and no longer posed a direct threat to NCR, with the storm signal for the region downgraded to Signal No. 1. The CHED policy is also based on NDRRMC guidelines. ‘We needed to act’ Lacierda noted that the NDRRMC made its recommendation in the evening when school officials, to whom CHED has devolved the decision to suspend college classes, could have been asleep. “We felt that we needed to take action," Lacierda said. Referring to school officials, he explained, “If they make the decision tomorrow (Wednesday), in a sense it might be useless because the parents would by then be bringing their children to school and putting them in harm’s way." Lacierda said the Palace did not see the need to consult CHED in making the decision “because of their policy of leaving the discretion to university officials to suspend [classes] if the storm signal is below Signal No. 3." GMA News Online tried but was unable to reach CHED’s Licuanan for comment as of posting time. Her office, however, e-mailed GMA News Online the agency’s “long-standing" policy on class suspensions. Asked if this is the first time that the Aquino administration intervened in the suspension of college classes, Lacierda said, “I am not sure." In recent history, the Palace has generally left the decision to suspend college classes to CHED. During the onslaught of Tropical Storm Falcon, for instance, which Metro Manila residents feared will turn into a repeat of Tropical Storm Ondoy, the Palace did not intervene in the suspension of classes. In keeping with its policy, CHED then left the decision to suspend classes to universities and colleges. Almost 2 hours to decide Based on posts on social networking site Twitter, the first recommendation to cancel NCR college classes came from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA). In a tweet at 10:10 p.m. on Tuesday through its account @dost_pagasa, PAGASA said it has recommended the suspension of college classes in Metro Manila to the NDRRMC-Office of Civil Defense (OCD). The Twitter account of the Office of the President, @govph, officially announced the suspension of college classes at 11:50 p.m., or almost two hours later. [See timeline below]

Lacierda, who announced the class suspension earlier than @govph through his Twitter account @dawende, said he found the social networking site as “the fastest way" to make the announcement. He said he also announced it through the government-run Radyo ng Bayan and notified Malacañang reporters about it via text message. Lacierda, however, said he did not directly call major television stations that were airing their late-night newscasts at the time college classes were suspended. Reason for CHED policy Explaining the CHED policy on class suspensions, Licuanan said college students, who are young adults, “should be treated differently from elementary and high school students." A former president of Miriam College herself, Licuanan added that floods, for instance, “are usually localized and therefore suspension would be inappropriate in some areas and not in others." “Suspension of classes and the loss of class days affect some institutions more seriously than others due to different schedules. HEIs, faculty, and students on a trimester system would be more likely to protest a centralized and unilateral suspension of classes to avoid the need for make-up classes for the loss of required class days," she said. The CHED policy, however, considers the plight of students affected by bad weather in the absence of a class suspension. “Even without the suspension of classes, students who are unable to report to class or participate in scheduled activities such as exams, due to inclement weather, shall be given consideration and be allowed to make up for the missed class or activity," the policy says. - KBK, GMA News