MANILA, Philippines — Presidential spokesman Harry Roque on Sunday warned Ateneo de Manila students that they will fail their classes and will not be able to graduate for calling for an academic strike against the government’s response to the pandemic and recent typhoons.
“Babagsak po kayo,” he said in an interview.
“Bilang isang dating propesor, kahit anong dahilan ang sinasabi niyong strike, ‘pag di kayo sumunod sa mga academic requirements, mawawalan kayo ng kinabukasan, ‘di kayo makaka-graduate sa Ateneo,” he added.
In an earlier statement, over 500 Ateneo students have pledged to withhold the submission of any school requirements beginning Wednesday, Nov. 18, until “national government heeds the people’s demands for proper calamity aid and pandemic response.”
“We believe that things cannot continue business as usual. We can no longer stomach the ever-rising number of deaths due to the state’s blatant incompetence. We cannot prioritize our schoolwork when our countrymen are suffering unnecessarily at the hands of those in power,” they said.
“We strike in solidarity with the students who are victims of calamities and of COVID-19, who cannot be expected to catch-up with their studies within 3 to 5 working days. From the beginning, no student should have been left behind.”
Ulysses, the 21st cyclone to hit the country this year, triggered massive flooding in Metro Manila and other parts of Luzon.
It likewise caused flooding in the Cagayan Valley, particularly in the provinces of Cagayan and Isabela.
Typhoon Ulysses has so far claimed the lives of 67 people, 22 of which came from Cagayan Valley.
Meanwhile, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has claimed the lives of 7,832 lives and infected over 407,000 individuals.