Stressing the link between government accountability and the state of Philippine education, a teachers’ group on Thursday, September 18, called on teachers, education workers, and advocates to participate in a nationwide rally against corruption this weekend.

The Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC), in a statement, urged teachers to join the rally to be held on Sunday, September 21, at Luneta in Manila.

TDC National Chairperson Benjo Basas said the rally is not only about teachers’ rights and welfare but also about “a broader struggle shared by ordinary Filipinos against corruption and inequality.”

“For years, we have fought not only for the rights and welfare of our teachers but also for meaningful reforms in our education system and in society as a whole,” Basas said.

“We firmly believe that our demands for decent pay and dignified working conditions are inseparable from the broader struggle of the ordinary people, the working class, and our nation against corruption and inequality,” he added.

TDC reiterated its long-standing call for a P15,000 across-the-board salary increase for public school teachers, which it said remains unaddressed.

The group expressed concern that despite teachers’ needs, government priorities continue to shift elsewhere.

“Instead of prioritizing teachers and learners, our government continues to allow corruption to flourish in agencies like the DPWH [Department of Public Works and Highways], where anomalous projects and collusion with legislators and contractors bleed our national resources dry,” Basas said.

The Caloocan City teacher lamented that while public schools face chronic shortages of classrooms, textbooks, and basic facilities, billions of pesos are being poured into projects that have been questioned for inefficiency and corruption risks.

“These very crooks and their nepo babies shamelessly flaunt their lavish lifestyles—showing off luxury cars, branded accessories, extravagant vacations, fine dining sprees, and even expensive umbrellas as symbols of excess—while many of our schools remain flooded,” he added.

TDC also questioned the 2025 national budget, which, for the first time, allocated more funds to the DPWH than to the Department of Education (DepEd) and other education agencies.

The group has filed a petition before the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of this allocation. TDC noted that prioritizing infrastructure projects over education reflects “distorted priorities” that leave teachers and learners behind.

“This glaring distortion of priorities channels a third of a trillion pesos into flood control projects—funds that have now been exposed as not merely vulnerable to corruption but deliberately designed as a grand scam, the handiwork of a syndicate—while our schools, teachers, and learners continue to be deprived of their most urgent needs,” Basas said.

TDC alleged that while teachers and students continue to endure persistent shortages in classrooms, textbooks, and essential water and sanitation facilities, billions of pesos are squandered on ghost projects and substandard infrastructure.

“This is not merely inefficiency—it is a systemic betrayal of public trust,” Basas said. “We say enough,” he added. 

According to TDC, rampant corruption and widening inequality reflect a society in deep distress—where systemic failure continues to harm those most in need.

“The cure lies not only in holding the corrupt accountable but also in building a progressive and responsive education system that uplifts the majority, empowers the marginalized, and ensures genuine social justice,” Basas said.

The September 21 rally, which coincides with the commemoration of the martial law declaration, is expected to gather broad groups of citizens pushing for accountability and reforms.

“On September 21, we march not just as teachers demanding fair pay, but as citizens calling for a responsive education system and a government that puts people first,” Basas said.