The tourism slogan “Its more fun in the Philippines” turned out to be “Its hotter in the Philippines”. These past weeks the heat indexes continue to sore high within the country which begs the question: how do you beat the heat on the road?
We have cities and towns reaching 50-52 degrees celsius (about 124 farehnheit). We have increasing reports of people having heat strokes.
At 15 days in total over the last 2 months, school classes were suspended in certain areas in the Philippines due to high temperature, preempting possible heat strokes and heat-induced sicknesses among students.
The summer is getting longer and longer and the experts warned that entering the rainy season is also one to be prepared for after.
With the climate change that is so evident, it is notably not surprising that March 2024 was the hottest month in the whole planet’s climate record according to the National Center for Environmental Protection. It was also the 10th consecutive warmest month on record, surpassing prior warmest months.
Unfortunately, not all of the labor force is privileged to have an air conditioned space to work in– like in company offices and in the comfort of doing work-from-home set up. I feel the heat the construction workers, driver and riders of non-air conditioned vehicles, farmers, vendors and workers commuting experience on a daily basis. I feel the heat of those who cannot afford air-conditioning for their houses.
The question now is with this rapid and evitable crazy temperature levels, what are the things to avoid most especially by the motorists and working class who are working under the extreme heat for their daily needs?
