Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said that the students of Ateneo de Manila University might fail their grades after they declare a mass strike against government’s failed response to calamities, ABS-CBN News reported.

In a statement, the student pledged to withhold the submission of school requirements from November 18 until the government “heeds the people’s demands for proper calamity aid and pandemic response.” About 580 students have already joined the strike, according to university student publication The Guidon.

“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.

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“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.”

Roque responded to the strike, warning students that they may fail their classes.

“Babagsak po kayo dahil bilang isang dating propesor, kahit anong dahilan ang sinasabi niyong strike, ‘pag di kayo sumunod sa academic requirements, mawawalan kayo ng kinabukasan, ‘di kayo makaka-graduate sa Ateneo,” he told ABS-CBN News.

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