New Rules on Class Suspensions in the Philippines: What Students and Parents Need to Know

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has signed Executive Order No. 130, dated October 28, 2026, establishing a new system for suspending and resuming in-person classes and onsite work in schools and learning centers across the Philippines.

The order aims to make class suspension decisions clearer, faster, and more responsive to actual conditions, especially during typhoons, heavy rainfall, earthquakes, extreme weather, and other emergencies.

Instead of relying solely on nationwide or citywide announcements, the new framework allows decisions to be made based on official hazard warnings, local conditions, and the safety of individual schools.

Here is what students, parents, and teachers need to know.

1. Classes Can Be Suspended Automatically

Under the new order, in-person classes and onsite work may be suspended automatically when government agencies issue warnings or advisories that meet the prescribed safety thresholds.

These agencies include:

• PAGASA for weather-related hazards
• PHIVOLCS for earthquakes and volcanic activity
• DENR-EMB for environmental hazards, including air quality concerns

When an official warning meets the required conditions, suspension takes effect without waiting for another announcement from local officials.

However, the specific warning levels and conditions that trigger automatic suspension will be detailed in the implementing guidelines.

2. Mayors and Other Local Officials Can Still Suspend Classes

Local government officials will continue to have the authority to suspend classes based on conditions in their communities.

If there is no applicable automatic suspension, local chief executives may declare suspensions after assessing local risks and coordinating with disaster management authorities.

For example, even if a national weather warning does not automatically require class suspension, a city or municipality may still suspend classes because of flooding, landslides, unsafe roads, or other local dangers.

Suspensions may cover an entire city or municipality, selected barangays, or specific schools.

The announcement must clearly identify the areas covered and how long the suspension will last.

3. Individual Schools May Also Suspend Classes

One of the important features of the new order is the introduction of granular suspension, which allows decisions to be made at the individual school level.

This means a school may suspend in-person classes when its own facilities or surrounding conditions are unsafe, even if other schools in the same city remain open.

For example, a school experiencing flooding or unsafe access roads may declare a suspension while other schools unaffected by those conditions continue their classes.

Such decisions must be supported by documented safety assessments and coordinated with the concerned local government.

Schools may use this authority only when there is no applicable automatic or local government suspension already in effect.

4. Classes May Resume Once Conditions Are Safe

The order also provides clearer rules on when in-person classes can resume.

For automatic and localized suspensions, classes may resume when the specified suspension period ends or the applicable hazard warning is lifted, downgraded, expires, or ceases, provided the required safety assessments and inspections have been completed.

Schools may also request permission to resume earlier, even while a local government suspension remains in effect.

However, this requires the concurrence of the concerned local chief executive and a documented assessment showing that the school is safe.

Schools that declared their own granular suspensions may also resume classes after confirming that the risks have been addressed, in coordination with the local government.

The order emphasizes that the safety of students and school personnel must be established before returning to classrooms.

5. No Face-to-Face Classes Does Not Always Mean No Learning

Another important provision is that suspending in-person classes does not automatically mean suspending all learning activities.

Whenever possible and appropriate, schools and learning centers are expected to continue education through alternative learning arrangements.

These may include online classes, learning modules, or other methods allowed under the policies of the concerned education agencies.

Similarly, school personnel may be required to follow alternative work arrangements during onsite work suspensions, unless the suspension order provides otherwise.

The goal is to keep students safe without unnecessarily disrupting their education.

6. When Will the New Rules Take Effect?

Executive Order No. 130 was signed on October 28, 2026.

Under Section 12, it takes effect immediately upon publication in the Official Gazette or a newspaper of general circulation.

The Department of Education, together with other concerned government agencies, is directed to issue the detailed implementing guidelines within 30 days from the order’s effectivity.

These guidelines will specify the exact hazard thresholds, procedures, safety requirements, and coordination needed to implement the new system.

The order also amends Executive Order No. 66, series of 2012, insofar as class suspensions, school activities, and onsite work in educational institutions and learning centers are concerned.

What Does This Mean for Students and Parents?

For families in Baguio City and elsewhere in the Philippines, the new framework is intended to make class suspension announcements more consistent with actual safety conditions.

An official hazard warning may trigger an automatic suspension. Local officials can act when their communities face particular risks, while individual schools have a mechanism to respond to hazards affecting their own campuses.

It also means that schools may be able to reopen at different times, depending on whether their facilities and surrounding areas have been assessed as safe.

For parents and students, the important reminder is to continue monitoring announcements from official government agencies, local authorities, and their respective schools.

The main goal of the new policy is simple: keep students and school personnel safe while allowing learning to continue whenever conditions permit.

Sources

• Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines: Executive Order No. 130, s. 2026, dated October 28, 2026.