By Robert B. Roque, Jr.
When the Department of Education (DepEd) abruptly announced a two-day suspension of face-to-face classes in Metro Manila on October 13 and 14, it cited an “alarming rise in influenza-like illnesses” and the need to disinfect classrooms and inspect the structural integrity of schools. The explanation, though convenient, did not quite add up.
Days later, the Department of Health (DOH) contradicted that premise, saying there was no influenza outbreak at all. Health Secretary Ted Herbosa even reported that influenza-like illness (ILI) cases were down from last year and had dropped by nearly 40 percent in early October compared with the previous two weeks. The DOH also clarified that there was no planned lockdown and no reason for alarm. So, if the health threat wasn’t real, what exactly was the government responding to?
Here’s what many now suspect: that the two-day break had less to do with flu and more to do with fear — fear that the country’s aging and possibly substandard school buildings could not withstand the tremors rattling the archipelago in recent weeks. From Ilocos to Zambales, Cebu to Davao Oriental, fault lines have been shifting and earthquakes striking with unnerving frequency. And in a country long haunted by corruption in public works, any admission of vulnerability could open a political fissure wider than any geological one.
For decades, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has been dogged by accusations of cutting corners and pocketing kickbacks, leaving behind structures that barely meet safety codes. If “The Big One” were to strike tomorrow, the collapse of a single poorly built school could ignite nationwide outrage — a tragedy that would lay bare not only cracked walls but a cracked system.
To be fair, DepEd’s call for inspection is the right move. What makes it questionable is the cover story. If health were truly the reason, two days would not suffice to stop viral transmission. Common sense alone would dictate at least a week or two of online learning. Instead, the government cloaked a legitimate safety check under the guise of an outbreak that didn’t exist.
But what’s really needed is for the government to face the truth: The Big One is not a matter of if, but of when. The correct approach is to declare the risk, admit the need for structural accounting, and make public the findings on each school building — so that parents and teachers know the risks they face; so that emergency measures are clear and memorized by students, educators, and first responders; so that weak structures are retrofitted and repaired pronto. And if a building is truly unsafe, then no child should ever be made to study inside it. That’s the real way to deal with fear and danger — not through excuses, but through action, transparency, and truth.
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