MANILA — Education Secretary Sonny Angara said on Thursday that school opening in areas hit by the habagat and Typhoon Carina is postponed to make way for cleanup operations and rehabilitation. 

"Some schools will really have to postpone their openings kasi maraming aayusin at lilinisin (because there is a lot to fix and clean)," he said in a statement.

Angara said he will issue on Friday a list of schools that will move the opening of classes but classes in areas with minimal to no damage will push through on July 29.

"The regional directors will also work with the principals to assess readiness for school opening. Hindi naman pipilitin yung mga nasalanta talaga at mahihirapan sa school opening ng Lunes," he added.

(The regional directors will also work with the principals to assess readiness for school opening. We will not force the schools that were badly affected and will have a difficult time with school opening on Monday.)

Some Metro Manila mayors weighed in on the postponement of school opening. 

The National Capital Region bore the brunt of the typhoon-enhanced southwest monsoon, seeing massive flooding and a deluge of evacuees.

As of July 25, the DepEd said 324 schools are being used as evacuation centers.

Navotas City Mayor John Rey Tiangco is confident they can push through with school reopening on Monday.

Some parts of Navotas remained flooded on Thursday afternoon due to the high tide and water coming from the damaged floodgate.

Tiangco cited the dwindling number of evacuees residing in evacuation centers, who he said will return home as soon as the high tide goes down.

"Yes walang problema.  Kung wala pong mataas na tide level, wala naman pong papasok na tubig," he said.

"Hindi naman sila magtataga diyan. Pag humupa yung tubig at yung high tide ay makakabalik na po sila," Tiangco explained.

Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna also does not see the need for the postponement in the city, since most of the flood in the city subsided as of Thursday.

"Hindi naman po marami ang nagpunta sa mga evacuation centers, sa mga paaralan natin na evacuation sites kasi meron kaming dalawang malaking evacuation center. Kaya nagsisimula na kami maglinis sa mga paaralan," she said in an interview on TV Patrol Express.

(Not a lot [of families] when to our evacuation centers, the schools that also serve as evacuation sites because we have two big evacuation centers. That's why we will now start cleaning schools.)

Marikina Mayor Marcelino Teodoro believes his residents need time, especially after seeing a record-number of 30,000 evacuees at the height of Typhoon Carina.

He said he will meet with local DepEd officials to discuss the possibility of deferring the opening of classes.

"Kakausapin ko yung division of city schools yung aming superintendent baka next week may posibilidad na ipopostpone o irereschedule namin yung class opening para maihanda namin muli ang aming paaralaan," he said in an interview on TV Patrol Express.

DepEd earlier said 90 schools were damaged by the onslaught of Typhoon Carina and the southwest monsoon.

The nine regions with damaged schools include the Cordillera Administrative Region, National Capital Region, Region I, Region II, Region III, Region IV-A, Region IV-B, Region VI and Region VIII.

The estimated cost for rehabilitation and reconstruction is pegged at P630 million.