Roque says class resumption possible in August if Philippines under 'new normal'

MANILA, Philippines — Physical classes can resume on August 24  if the country is already in the "new normal", presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Tuesday after the president said in a late-night address that physical classes should wait until a COVID-19 vaccine is available.

In a late-night address that extended past midnight, President Rodrigo Duterte categorically rejected the idea of an August re-opening, saying he wants a vaccine first before classes could continue. 

"I will not allow the opening of classes where children are in close proximity. Never mind that; whatever happens will happen, but they don't finish," the president said in a mix of English and Filipino. 

"For this generation, there will be no [student] who will get to finish as a doctor or engineer. No more studies for now, they should just play unless I am sure they are really safe."

WATCH: Duterte not in favor of opening classes until vaccine is available

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Monday said the health department is optimistic that classes can start on August 24 as set by the Department of Education.

He said that health precautions like physical distancing, frequent hand washing and regular disinfection of classrooms should be done to keep students safe from COVID-19.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones had earlier announced that academic year 2020-2021 was slated to resume on August 24.

"It doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone should attend class physically because we have lockdowns enforced in various areas. It can be virtual, it can also be physical in areas where schools are allowed to open," Briones said in Filipino earlier this month.

DepEd said on May 4 that it is looking into implementing alternative delivery modes such as online learning that do not require face-to-face interactions among students and teachers. But internet connection and gadgets such as laptops, computers and mobile phones remain unreachable luxuries for many learners. 

“There are students without access to technology that’s why we’re preparing our printed instructional packets or self-learning kits,” DepEd Undersecretary Diosdado San Antonio said then. 

As it stands, the majority of Metro Manila's mayors are in favor of graduating the region to general community quarantine from modified enhanced community quarantine by June because of the economic impact of the COVID-induced quarantine. 

What is the 'new normal' even?

At his press briefing on Tuesday morning, though, Roque said that Duterte's "no vaccine, no classes" statement only meant that there would be no physical, face-to-face classes for as long as community quarantine is still in place, but physical classes may push through by August 24 if the country is already in the 'new normal.'

"I am advising all types of schools to prepare for the 'new normal'. They will have to be creative," Roque said. 

The administration's lexicon — for example on "mass testing" and on "new normal" — has been challenging to follow.

Joint Task Force COVID-19 Shield, which is the quarantine enforcement arm of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases, previously said that strict measures under the general community quarantine are the new normal. 

“We ask the public to gradually accept the fact that these strict measures are the new normal in terms of peace and order under the time of this pandemic,” said Police Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, JTF CV Shield commander.

READ: 'We cannot go back': General Community Quarantine is the 'new normal,' Malacañang says | 'Strict measures are the new normal' under General Community Quarantine

Along with previously and erroneously arguing that the term "mass testing" meant testing all 110 million Filipinos, Roque has also said that general community quarantine is, in itself, the "new normal". 

Speaking in an interview with dZMM, Roque said in a mix of English and Filipino: “We are no longer going back to normal as we know it po."

"The GCQ is already that, it is the new normal. For as long as there is still no vaccine, we cannot go back to normal as we know it," he added. — Franco Luna