11/08/2026
๐ข๐ฃ๐๐ก๐๐ข๐ก| ๐๐น๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
๐ฆ๐๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐โ ๐๐ฎ๐ณ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐บ๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐?
When disaster hits, should students have to choose between safety and to comply? Most of the students are currently in their own houses, scrambling to save what they canโ a chair turned into a makeshift platform for belongings, a table that was once used for learning or eating, is now piled up of household itemsโ and students trying to survive in this reoccurring flood threat, students dealing with floodwater inside homes that are supposed to be their safest zonesโ Yet, as students, they are expected to never let their education be stopped by any drop of rain and flood. On August 10, 2026, The Pampanga State University announced the suspension of face-to-face classes today, August 11, 2026 due to inclement weather and flooding and yet expected to shift into online synchronous. This forces the students to think more for the activities, lessons, and deadlines more than for their mere survival and safety.
CHEDโs flexible learning aims to avoid disruption to education. After the pandemic, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) adopted flexible learning under CHED Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 6, Series of 2022, entitled โSustaining Flexible Learning in Higher Education: An Addendum to CMO No. 4, Series of 2020,โ as a way for higher education institutions to ensure the continuity of education despite disruptions. Its main goal is to make flexible learning a sustainable part of higher education, rather than a temporary response to COVID-19. However, during disasters like flood, where safety must be the priority, it becomes deprioritized as education flexibilized. Flexible learning is an effective alternative for educational continuity but should not be a mandated participation when facing a disaster.
As if students were people who exist within a classroom. Many students during disasters have obligations beyond academic responsibilities. Some of them are expected to save their belongings, rescue their pets, find food sources, or evacuate. Moreover, College students are often labelled as โwaterproofโ; they are often expected to manage their learning flexibly during disasters like floods . Yet, these duties at home are being forgotten by their academic demands. Meeting deadlines or keeping up with the discussions seem their need to prioritize and safety is treated as a choice.
Additionally, according to the report of Jun Veneracion on โ24-Orasโ on August 10, 2026โ about the 300 nipa hut โkuboโ which are the source of income of the Aeta tribeโs, being washed out by the overflowing riverโ seventeen (17) municipalities or 250 โbarangayโ in Pampanga are affected by floods. In this case, we can see how devastating the flood is, affecting the lives of everyone, like how Aeta's livelihood was damaged. Flooding affects a large number of communities in Pampanga; students may experience disrupted electricity, internet connection, food sources, and transportation.. As a result, online synchronous may not be an equally accessible alternative for every student.
Temporary pausing of education during a disaster is not abandoning education, it is acknowledging that students cannot learn effectively when survival is a priority. There is no Flooducation, education amidst flood, because if the classrooms are flooded so are the homes of the students expected to study in them, education should not demand that students choose which crisis to face first. How can they study when every corner of their house is soaked by flood, a table to study has belongings on, or has a disrupted reception? When students think more for themselves as human over deadlines and discussion, they are not against the continuity of education. They are choosing to survive long enough to return to it.
๐๐ซ๐ญ ๐๐ฒ: Clarence Vergara
๐๐๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐ฒ: Janna De Guzman
