BAYAN MUNA Representative Ferdinand Gaite and Senator Francis ‘Kiko’ Pangilinan urged the government to heed the call of the youth for an academic break in the wake of the calamity caused by Typhoons Rolly and Ulysses.

Gaite on Tuesday expressed support to students from the Ateneo de Manila University, the University of the Philippines, and several other universities in their demand for accountability and action following the series of typhoons that hit huge areas in Luzon.

Ateneo students earlier called for a boycott of academic activities and the refocusing of the academe’s time and energy to help the victims of the calamity in the Bicol region, Southern Tagalog, and Cagayan Valley.

“We join them in this call for solidarity to our fellow Filipinos. We further strongly support their call to exact accountability from the criminally negligent Duterte regime,” Gaite said.

Pangilinan meanwhile said the administration should not belittle the voice of the youth.

“Ang kabataan ang boses ng kinabukasan. Ang kabataan ang mitsa ng pagbabago. The students and the youth are the voices from the ground. They speak not only from their own experiences but also from the actual situations of their family and friends as well as the people they see on social media and other news sources,” the senator said.

He urged government officials to listen to the grievances of the youth.

“If I may suggest, the youth may also support the call of some lawmakers, including myself, to realign the anti-insurgency fund to addressing the simultaneous and successive disasters we’ve been experiencing,” he added.