FIRING LINE: Cold winds, cloudy rules

FIRING LINE: Cold winds, cloudy rules

By Robert B. Roque Jr. l November 5, 2026

Christmassy cool air has finally arrived, or at least the promise of it. Towards the end of October, the weather bureau declared the start of Amihan season, bringing cooler mornings, cold surges, and rough seas in the months ahead.

But as the searing temperatures refuse to budge, don’t pack your electric fans just yet. A strong El Niño is suppressing seasonal cooling, while Pacific easterlies and stray thunderstorms keep the air thick with moisture. This Amihan will feel warmer than usual: humid, muggy, and a little confused.

Case in point: this Tuesday, schools in parts of Western Visayas suspended classes or shifted online because heat indices were forecast to hit levels the weather bureau already calls dangerous. Christmas cool? Not quite.

Malacañang’s latest class-suspension rules may also feel confusing. On October 28, President Marcos signed Executive Order 130, made public only this Tuesday, creating a three-tier system for suspending classes and on-site work.

First, classes are automatically suspended when government hazard warnings hit prescribed thresholds. Second, mayors may suspend classes citywide, in select barangays or at specific schools, backed by documented risk assessments. Third, individual schools may call it off when danger is real or imminent. Classes resume once warnings are lifted, replacing a 2012 order tied largely to typhoon signals.

On paper, that is rational. Decisions move closer to the ground, with paperwork behind each call, and parents stop refreshing Facebook at 4 a.m. waiting for a mayor’s announcement.

But a swipe is due. In September, Marcos himself pushed to fast-track the guidelines to prevent confusion. It still took until late October to sign, and the thresholds that make “automatic” automatic remain blank, with the Department of Education given 30 days to fill them in.

A policy meant to end indecision arrives wrapped in it. This is an administration that often seems to deliberate longer than the typhoon it is deliberating about.

And the timing matters. The weather bureau warns that the shear line, tropical cyclones, and the Intertropical Convergence Zone can still stir trouble during Amihan months. If thresholds are not set soon, schools will be improvising the first time a bad day hits.

Still, we hope this works. We want our kids safe, not wading through floodwater for a quiz. But we don’t want them delayed in schooling, or turned into softies sent home at the slightest trace of rain. A sensible middle exists, and the thresholds will decide where it sits.

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