The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) has officially declared the start of the warm, dry season on March 21 with the termination of the northeast monsoon, signaling the beginning of what is commonly referred to as the summer season in our country. This dry season that brings warmer temperatures is expected to last until May, a period that we should prepare for.
As of this writing, various parts of the country have already experienced sizzling heat. Last Friday, for instance, PAGASA recorded a heat index of 47 degrees Celsius in Butuan City, Agusan del Norte. And that is alarmingly hot. This was a degree higher than the 46-degree Celsius heat index recorded in San Jose town, Occidental Mindoro last March 17. Also with the highest heat index from March 1 to March 25 are Maasin, Southern Leyte (43 oC on March 25); Dauis, Bohol (43oC on March 24); and Roxas City, Capiz (43 oC also on March 24).
Heat index measures how hot it feels outside when humidity and other factors are considered along with the temperature. For Saturday’s figures, PAGASA recorded the highest heat index in Davao City and Masbate City, both registering at 42 oC. The town of Borongan in Eastern Samar and Dagupan City in Pangasinan followed with 41 oC. Based on the forecast, General Santos could reach 43 oC on March 29, and 42 oC for Butuan on March 30.
What do all these imply? This means that heat stroke is probable, with continued exposure to heat index ranging from 42 to 52 oC. The public, then, should limit the time spent outdoors for less important reasons. People are also advised to drink plenty of water or maybe fruit juices to hydrate their bodies. They are to avoid tea, coffee, soda, and liquor.
They are also urged to schedule heavy-duty activities to avoid heat-related illnesses.
With these precautions, we hope to warn the public to brace for upcoming hot temperatures that are injurious to health. If we cannot avoid the heat, at least we should have some things to combat it.
Confabs resumption
It’s another good news to greet, among many, now that the pandemic is good as over. They call it press conferences involving campus journalists. The Department of Education (DepEd) has taken it seriously that, as a result, some of the student journalists involved learn their craft with mastery.
Even before the pandemic came, press conferences at various levels were already active and vibrant. From the school-level selection, potential contestants are screened up to the district level, division level, regional level, and finally, national level where the best of the best in their respective genres come out as champions.
This series of press conferences was halted only during the pandemic years when classes were held online, through virtual classrooms. It’s a good thing that now, these confabs are back again, with renewed enthusiasm and vigor. Student journalists are again competing with their pens, their cameras, their sketch materials, their voices, and so on, depending on the journalistic genres they are competing in.
These activities are not strange to me, though I am not connected with DepEd, the reason being that, since the 90s up to now, I am still continuously hired by Presscon organizers either as a lecturer or a judge in various competitions. Most of the time, it’s the latter that I get involved in. I’ve been a judge countless times already such that some paper adviser would jokingly call me, Doms the great.
This season, in fact, there have been plenty of invitations for me to train campus paper writers, particularly individual writing categories such as editorial writing, news writing, feature writing, editorial cartooning, science and technology writing, and many more. Invitations to judge have also been conveyed to me. Somehow, those who invite me don’t get frustrated because, not to brag, I am able to deliver the appropriate services.
Why, I’ve been a practitioner in many of these journalistic genres. I was a cartoonist in high school, chief editor in college, and paper adviser after I joined the academe. Not only that but, since then, I’ve been a newspaper cartoonist, columnist, and editorial writer up to now. Moreover, I was able to write and publish books in these genres: editorial writing, editorial cartooning, and feature writing.
In fact, many students are using these books as guides in their journalistic pursuits, having bought their copies before. It gladdens me to see that these young journalists are capturing the journalistic skills that could make them skillful and responsible journalists someday. I’m overjoyed, too, that I am somehow instrumental in their development as writers, thanks to the resumed press conferences nowadays.
Surely, these are activities that pay off. Credits to the DepEd for these confabs, as well as to the teacher-advisers and student journalists for their untiring efforts.