Tacloban City (CNN Philippines, January 3) — Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez on Tuesday suspended classes in all levels in both public and private schools as well as work in government and private offices due to the technical glitches at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and bad weather.
The suspension was recommended by City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Chief Idelbrando Bernadaz.
“Isang rason dyan ay marami pang hindi nakakabalik sa Tacloban dahil sa nangyari sa NAIA,” the mayor said. “Pangalawa po, dahil sa masungit na panahon kaya mag-ingat pa tayong lahat today, huwag na tayong magmadali baka madisgrasya pa kayo.”
[Translation: One reason is there are still a lot of people who have not returned to Tacloban because of what happened in NAIA. Second, the weather is still bad and I urge people to be careful.]
Exempted from the suspension are health and sanitation, traffic management, disaster response, and peace and order personnel.
Meanwhile, suspensions were also announced in the following areas in Leyte due to inclement weather: Alangalang, San Miguel, Tanauan, Palo, Tabontabon, Julita; plus Basey, Samar.
The weather bureau issued a red warning affecting Eastern Samar and Samar provinces, which means flooding could happen in low-lying areas and landslides in mountainous areas.
Residents and disaster management officials in those areas were advised to take appropriate actions and monitor the weather conditions and advisories.
Meanwhile, the technical glitch at the country’s main air hub Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) affected tens of thousands of passengers on New Year’s Day when hundred of international and domestic flights were delayed.
“Within the next 72 hours starting today, January 2, our passengers should expect flight delays because this is a consequence of the recovery operations that we are undertaking today,” Philippine Airlines spokesperson Cielo Villaluna told CNN Philippines’ Balitaan on Monday.
“I hope they understand we are carrying out our recovery flight operations,” she said, adding many of the company’s aircraft were stranded as a result of the system issue.
Villaluna said the carrier sees operations normalizing after that period.
