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THE
number of typhoons and tropical cyclones that frequent
the country every year should convince the Department of
Education (DepEd) to approve the proposal to move the
opening of classes to October to avoid the rainy months
from July to September, according to the National
Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB).
NSCB
Executive Director Romulo Virola said this long-standing
debate must be revived in order to prevent endangering
the lives of students and possibly contributing to the
diversification of products the country can produce
during rainy months.
“There
had been proposals in the past which had either fallen
on deaf ears or no one had mustered enough political
will to do something about, but really, the DepEd should
consider opening classes in October so that our poor
schoolchildren will be saved from the typhoon and wet
months of July, August and September,” Virola said in
his online column Statistically Speaking titled, “Some
Things You Better Know About Typhoons in the
Philippines.”
“If the
school opening is changed, businesses catering to summer
holidays may have to shift to other types of business.
Conversely, opportunities will open up to
business-minded men and women targeting as clients
students who will be out of school in July, August and
September,” he added.
Virola
also urged informal workers to diversify their
merchandise from July to September. He said that instead
of only selling fish balls, candies, kwek-kwek
(quail eggs fried in batter) and peanuts, they can also
sell raincoats and umbrellas not only to increase their
sales but also help prevent people from getting sick
during these months.
He also
urged boat captains and the shipping company, Sulpicio
Lines, to be “very, very careful” when deciding if their
boats or ships will sail during typhoon season,
particularly in the last quarter of the year.
In the
light of the recent MV Princess of the Stars tragedy, he
said the Department of Transportation and Communications
(DOTC) and the Coast Guard, as well as other regulatory
authorities, should be even more vigilant from the
months of July to September.
“If one
needs to take a boat in October, November or December,
double-, triple- and quadruple-check the weather. No
matter how you find Pagasa predictably undependable in
forecasting the weather, better believe them at least
during the last quarter of the year, and maybe, just to
be on the safe side, add one to the typhoon signal
number that they hoist. Buy travel insurance, too,”
Virola said.
Besides
these, Virola also suggested that all the residents of
Virac, the capital of Catanduanes in the Bicol region,
consider living elsewhere since it was hit by four out
of five of the strongest typhoons that hit the country
from 1947 to 2006.
He added
that these typhoons also followed essentially the same
directional pattern, coming from the eastern part of the
country and moving northwest.
Meanwhile, Virola said engineers and architects also
need to build stronger houses, buildings and bridges,
among others, since typhoons have become stronger over
the years.
Typhoons
are getting stronger and stronger, Virola noted,
especially since the 1990s. From 1947 to 1960, the
strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines was Amy in
December 1951, with a highest wind speed recorded at 240
kph in Cebu.
From
1961 to 1980, Sening (Joan) was the record-holder with a
highest wind speed of 275 kph recorded in Virac in
October 1970. In the succeeding 20 years, the highest
wind speed were recorded by Anding (Irma) and Rosing
(Angela) at 260 kph in Daet (November 1981) and in Virac
(October to November 1995), respectively.
In the
current millennium, the highest wind speed soared to 320
kph recorded by Reming (Durian) in November-December
2006 in Virac. In fact, Virola said Typhoon Signal No. 4
was a recent category.
“From 27
typhoons during the period 2000 to 2003, the number
ominously increased to 39 from 2004 to 2007! Is this one
of the effects of global warming?” Virola asked. “If
this is due to climate change, we better be prepared for
even stronger ones in the future.” |
