President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to stop funding the University of the Philippines if the students refuse to go to classes as their protest against the government.

"Stop schooling. That will save money for your parents. Better make use of your time anywhere. Those schools, UP? Fine. Stop schooling. I will stop the funding," Duterte said in a taped televised meeting with some members of his Cabinet on Tuesday night.

He also said that UP has been a recruitment ground for communist rebels.

Duterte made the statement after Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque told him of the "foolish" students who refused to go to school and to submit their academic requirements as their protest against the government's alleged negligence in handling the coronavirus pandemic and recent calamities that hit the country.

Specifically, the students from Ateneo de Manila have called for an academic strike against the government's supposed incompetence in handling the disasters.

"You are taking the cudgels of the poor ahead of your time. That is not your worry, that is the worry of the government. As I said, we have been working. We are government workers," Duterte said.

To further scorn the students, Duterte told them to just stop schooling.

"Until all the Filipinos receive the vaccine, you resume your duty. And you wait for another typhoon and see if the help that we extend is enough to your satisfaction. Watch for the next typhoon and look for those in need who are not assisted, then you protest again," he said. Celerina Monte/DMS