Palace, LGUs suspend classes, work as Storm Opong nears

Malacañang and more than a dozen local governments suspended classes and government work on Thursday as Severe Tropical Storm Bualoi, locally named Opong, threatened to bring torrential rains and strong winds.

In a memorandum circular, the palace ordered the suspension of classes at all levels and government work in Sorsogon, Masbate, Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, Samar and Biliran. Similar directives were issued in Quezon province, Marinduque, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes and Albay.

In Metro Manila, several local governments followed suit. Valenzuela City halted all face-to-face classes, while Caloocan, Malabon, Taguig, and Pateros suspended preschool levels. Quezon City canceled in-person sessions for public preschools only.

Across the Bicol region, classes at all levels were also suspended in Albay, Naga City, and parts of Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate, and Sorsogon. In Eastern Visayas, Biliran, Tacloban City, Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, and other parts of Samar also suspended classes.

In Calabarzon, suspensions covered Laguna and parts of Batangas, Cavite, and Rizal, including the cities of Batangas, Calaca, Santo Tomas, Tanauan, Bacoor, Tagaytay, Lucena, and Antipolo. Other areas such as Dagupan City, parts of Pangasinan, Naujan in Oriental Mindoro, and Romblon also suspended classes at all levels.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said in its 8 a.m. bulletin that Bualoi might intensify into a typhoon by Thursday. The cyclone could pass close to Northern Samar or make landfall over the Bicol Region by Friday morning or early afternoon.

Packing maximum sustained winds of 110 kilometers per hour (kph) and gusts of up to 135 kph, Bualoi was last spotted 365 kilometers east of Guiuan, Eastern Samar, moving west-northwest at 20 kph.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government placed more than a dozen local government units on heightened alert following orders from President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. — Edg Adrian A. Eva