What's Happening?

No classes in Oroquieta, Dapitan cities, 7 towns in Mindanao

by Malou Talosig-Bartolome

PUBLISHED ON February 14, 2023

SAVE your roses, chocolates, and gifts, kids, parents and teachers.

Classes were automatically suspended in the cities of Oroquieta and Dapitan as well as in seven towns in Misamis Occidental and Zamboanga del Norte today on Valentine’s Day, February 14.

Aside from Oroquieta and Dapitan cities, the other towns where classes were suspended are:

Misamis Oriental: Baliangao, SapangDalaga, Calamba, Plaridel
Zamboanga del Norte: Rizal, LaLibertad, Piñan

The automatic class suspensions came after Pagasa issued orange heavy rainfall warning advisory in those areas around 4:30 am today.

Just the same, Mayor Lemuel Acosta also suspended classes in Oroquieta City today.

Dapitan City asked its residents to prepare for possible evacuation and continue to monitor their updates. “Pag-andam sa tanang gikinahanglang mga butang sama sa mga sinina, pagkaon, ug mga first aid kit ug bantayi ang mga order nga gihatag sa inyong Local Government Units alang sa posibleng pagbakwit,” the city posted on its Facebook past 5 am.

Orange warning level means the flooding is “threatening” in low-lying areas and landslides may occur in mountainous areas. The amount of rainfall expected would be around 75,000-150,000 drums per square kilometer.

Pagasa said the trough of the low pressure area outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility is causing the rains.

Yellow warning

Pagasa also issued a yellow warning in certain areas in Camiguin, Misamis Occidental, Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga Del Sur.

Classes will not be automatically suspended under yellow heavy rainfall warning level. But local executives have the discretion to suspend classes if flooding occurs in their respective areas.

Under yellow warning, the amount of rainfall expected would be 37,500-75,000 drums per square kilometer. Landslides and flooding is “possible” in low-lying areas with this amount of rainfall.