Classes and Transport Strike (HE Memo#Y2.26)

HE Memo#Y2.26
14 April 2024

I hope that everyone is holding up in this hot and humid month of April. In anything that we do, I trust that we make wise decisions for our welfare and well-being.

We have recently read in the daily papers about the plan of Manibela and Piston to hold a transport strike in Metro Manila beginning tomorrow, 15 April 2024. That may disrupt our schedules.

Since we don’t know, as of now, the length and extent of the coverage of this planned transport strike, we are going to continue holding classes onsite for the Schools of Education and Learning Design, Humanities, Management, Science and Engineering, and Social Sciences. But I ask that we exercise understanding to those who might be affected by the strike. Open communication is important between faculty and students. Students, could you kindly send a message to your teachers if you are unable to come to classes because of the transport strike? I kindly ask the teachers to respond compassionately.

In January this year, when a similar protest took place, we made the same arrangements. Thanks to the cooperation of students and faculty, those arrangements worked well. That’s much appreciated.

We know from our experience of past transport strikes that when the coverage paralyzes major sectors of the thoroughfare, our default response is to shift to the online teaching and learning mode. We will continue to monitor the situation in the coming days and make the necessary adjustments.

For the Schools of Medicine and Public Health, Law, Government, and Business, the respective Deans of these schools shall make the necessary announcements that are appropriate to their contexts.

Let us remain resilient in approaching emergent concerns.