ALL CLASSES, WORK  SUSPENDED

PEOPLE panicked and rushed out from their homes and offices, students from their classrooms and out into the streets as Dagupan City was being rocked by a strong earthquake measured at magnitude 5 at about 8:43.28 a.m., the strongest temblor felt in the province this year.

The students of University of Pangasinan (UPang-Phinma), rushed out of their classrooms  and ran to the middle of Arellano Street for safety and stayed in the area until university officials announced that classes for the rest of the day were suspended to allow for the inspection of all school buildings for structural damage.

As of Thursday, July 28, only the UPang-Phinma was the only tertiary school that opened  classes. Lyceum Northwestern, University of Luzon and Universidad de Dagupan have yet to open their classes.

Dazed and trembling, most of the students stayed for hours on the streets and sidewalks that momentarily slowed down traffic in the city.

Over at the Dagupan City Hall, employees rushed out  to Zamora Street beside the city plaza where they stayed for hours before deciding to return to their respective offices then only to be informed of the order of Mayor Belen Fernandez that work in all government offices were suspended for the rest of the day.

Excluded from the mayor’s executive order suspending work posted on social media by the Dagupan City Information Office, were offices and personnel involved in rescue operations.

Meanwhile, the city engineering office reported its initial findings hours later that the Dagupan City National High School, Hall of Justice Hall, Makong Building and other public buildings did not show any structural  damage from the quake.

According to Dagupan CIO, the covered court of the Judge Jose de Venecia Sr. Technical Vocational  School in Bolosan suffered minor damage in its steel column and had to be cordoned.

Less than an hour after the quake, the Dagupan CIO posted a bulletin at the CIO’s Facebook account that there was no tsunami expected to hit the city, belying a fake news reporting the occurrence of a tsunami in the coastal areas of the region.

Nevertheless, Mayor Fernandez enforced a “no swimming” rule at the Tondaligan Beach  that day.

Meanwhile, Mayors Leopoldo Bataoil of Lingayen, Jeremy Agerico Rosario of Manaoag, Mamilyn Caramat of Calasiao and Bonafe de Vera of Mangaldan also issued similar executive order suspending work in government offices for the rest of the day.

This was followed suit by Gov. Ramon Guico III.

Across Pangasinan, several towns suffered power disruption when a 69 Kv line of Central Pangasinan Electric Cooperative was damaged by the earthquake. Affected towns were Malasiqui, Bayambang, Basista and Bautista.

The San Roque Power Corporation was quick to assure that the San Roque Dam did not suffer any damage from the quake. (Leonardo Micua)

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