AGSB Contingency Plans for the Impact of the Ongoing Mideast Crisis (Memo No. AGSB-DO-2526-039)

AGSB-DO-2526-039
12 March 2026

In response to the impact on the Philippine economy of the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, we have drafted the contingency plans that are attached to this memo, mindful of ensuring both the continuity of our academic programs and the well-being of our community members.

The plan is based on Scenarios, with concrete triggers for each Scenario, to ensure that our response is agile and measured, instead of binary and arbitrary. Based on the triggers we have identified, we are now in Scenario 2. The response to this is to reduce the number of onsite sessions immediately.

• For the Second Trimester of MBA Standard, Middle Managers MBA, and MBA in Health, two of the remaining onsite sessions will shift to online. For example, of the seven onsite sessions per Trimester, if two have been conducted, there would have been five onsite sessions remaining. Two of those five onsite sessions will shift to online. If three onsite sessions have already been conducted, two of the remaining four onsite sessions will shift to online.
• For Term 3 of Ateneo-Regis MBA, one of the remaining onsite sessions will shift to online. For example, by this time, of the four onsite sessions per Term, one would have been finished, with three remaining. That means that one out of those three onsite sessions will shift to online. If two onsite sessions have already been conducted, then there will be one remaining onsite session.

For each class, your professor will verify this and provide a schedule of the remaining sessions, which I would expect the professors to do by Monday March 16. For some courses, of the remaining sessions, there could be one that requires an onsite assessment (e.g., exam, final report, Strama defense). In that case, your professor would tell you about the schedule for that onsite session.

Note that this may not be the only adjustment for this Term/Trimester. We will continue to monitor the triggers and, if these indicate Scenario 3, we would adjust within the current Term and Trimester and shift to more online classes. If the conflict situation de-escalates and oil prices come down below the trigger points, we would return to previous Scenarios and hopefully at some point, back to normal. On the other hand, we would be prepared to trigger the actions for Scenario 4 if called for.

As I point out in the plan, we uphold our principle that any planning exercise is an exercise in consultation. My thanks to the students who participated in the Student Council’s survey, to the SC leaders for their own direct inputs, and to our faculty members who have contributed their recommendations. We will continue to dialogue with the members of the community. The immediate output of that would be to address frequently asked questions, which I encourage students to share with the Student Council and professors to share with their Department Chairs.

Thank you and God bless.