MANILA, Philippines -- Although many public schools in Metro Manila are already overcrowded with evacuees, the Department of Education said Thursday it was bracing itself for more evacuees if Typhoon Pepeng unleashes more flooding in the capital.

Teresita Domalanta, DepEd-National Capita Region director, said education and civil defense officials met Thursday morning to prepare for more evacuees although 96 of the capital?s 700 public schools were already sheltering 14,229 families.

She added that if the need arises, the suspension of classes in the capital could be extended until next week. She said it would all depend on the situation this weekend, when Typhoon Pepeng is expected to hit Luzon.

?We have become camp commanders and so we are prepared. School security guards have already been told that once evacuees show up at the gates, they should be allowed to get in and not wait for the permission of our principals,? Domalanta said.

?We now have 14,229 families as of 2:15 p.m. (Thursday). Those are families, not individuals because they are just too many to count. We are expecting more if the (new) typhoon hits (Metro Manila),? she said.

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said there were already some ?preemptive evacuations? being planned, particularly for people living in low-lying or other areas vulnerable to flooding or landslides.

?And we need more timely and accurate weather forecasts, including the amount of rainfall,? Lapus said.

Domalanta said new evacuees could be sheltered first in the covered courts or corridors of schools before they are moved to the classrooms where they could temporarily stay.

?We still have rooms that are not being used because we are keeping there the school?s valuable equipment, but if the situation really gets worse, we are prepared to open these rooms,? Domalanta said.

?Of course, we value our people more than these material things,? she added.

Domalanta said the DepEd was already deploying portable toilets to schools sheltering evacuees.

?(Overcrowding) and sanitation are real problems but there are also so many people, particularly private citizens, who are helping us. I hope this continues,? she said.

While the public school system tries to accommodate more evacuees, it has also been hit badly by Typhoon Ondoy.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the DepEd central office received reports showing that damage costs of Ondoy's devastation to the public school system had reached P151 million.

A total of 353 public schools --158 in Metro Manila, 72 in the Cagayan Valley, 42 in Calabarzon (Region IV-A), 41 in Central Luzon, 33 in the Cordillera Administrative Region, six in Mimaropa (Region IV-B) and one in the Ilocos Region -- were damaged.

A total of 204 schools were being used as evacuation centers, with 96 of these in Metro Manila.