EDITORIAL: A completely broken system | Sept. 12, 2026

0:00Greetings and salutations. Thank you for lending an ear to the voice of the times for Saturday, September 12, 2026 for today's editorial, a completely broken system. On Wednesday and Thursday this week, schools were again closed in students, subjected to alternative learning modalities, otherwise known as online classes too, people who do not use such pompous languages government officials, due to the ongoing rains from the southwest monsoon. Although there are still areas where school and work suspensions are necessary due to continuing flooding, the conditions in Metro Manila and many other areas were not at all threatening, causing frustrations among students, parents and workers losing more days of wages to boil. Over, on Wednesday, in Metro Manila at least, the decision to suspend classes came from the local government units through the Metro Manila Council and was issued very late at about 8 a.m. Wednesday morning after some students were already at school and others on route. For Thursday, in an apparent attempt to maintain a bit, more order, the suspension order was issued by Malacanag on Wednesday, evening, and applied to Metro Manila

1:02and 15 provinces in the zone. We do not question the need to ensure public safety, and as we noted above, there are indeed areas, particularly in central is on, where heavy rains and flooding have persisted for weeks. However, the blanket approach to imposing school and work, suspensions due to inclement whether is a disaster for the economy at a time when productivity frankly cannot withstand any more negative pressure. In 2022, the National Economic Development Authority, NEDA, which has since been re-tooled as the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development, did a study that found the cost to the National Economy of one day of school class. Suspensions was about P12 billion, mostly coming from lost business in the transport, sector and local businesses that rely on student populations. The loss from Metro, Manila alone, which accounts for 31.2% of the National Economy, is about P3.74 billion per day, for all of the areas covered by Thursday's suspension order, about P7.43 billion, on top of whatever losses to businesses, property and agriculture have already

2:06been directly caused by adverse weather. Since the current, Spell of Wet Weather has now lasted for about six weeks, beginning about July 31st, the economic cost from school and work suspensions has now exceeded P100 billion. That is just the cost attributable to official suspensions of school classes and work in, government offices. It is undoubtedly multiplied many times by the cost of business, closures or reduced hours, reduced customer traffic for retail businesses and other, workplaces reducing their activity by switching to work from home arrangements. The cost continues on well into the future as well, that original 2022 study by NEDA also found that the future earning potential of Filipino students is eroded by there, falling behind in studies due to continual suspensions of face-to-face classes. The other learning modalities are significantly inferior in quality and results, meaning that millions of students who are subjected to it now will be poorer earners and, consumers for decades to come, the Philippines is coming off a quarter in which it recorded a region low gross, domestic product growth of 2.3%, while under even the most pessimistic, analyst estimates.

3:10Unemployment jumped to 6.0% in July, which was even before the worst of the recent weather began. Inflation remains elevated, and other factors, many of which are completely beyond the government's control, have lowered the relative value of the peso and slowed investment in remittance, inflows. Under these circumstances, further constraining the economy by liberally, applying class suspensions when and where they are not absolutely necessary is, simply irresponsible. The government might defend itself from that charge by pointing out that it is merely working within the system and according to the information that is available to it, and that is another problem that needs to be addressed. Making public safety decisions to suspend classes or work, or even evacuate people in a trisk area is requires. For size, whether monitoring and forecasting, accurate hazard mapping and rapid, efficient decision-making and communication processes, government is lacking in all three, and it should concentrate on making up for those shortcomings, because without those tools, the current system for issuing, suspensions covering an entire city, province or region is inefficient and costly.

4:13With, those tools, on the other hand, actions to keep students and others out of harms, way could be much more targeted to areas that really need them, allowing others in, the same jurisdiction who are not affected to go about their business and minimizing, the adverse economic impact.