A newly formed group of healthcare professionals, calling themselves “Nurses Against Corruption,” held a protest rally dubbed the “Human Chain Against Corruption” near the National Children’s Hospital along E. Rodriguez Sr. Avenue at noon Friday.

The demonstration, which the group says is the first in a series of activities, included participants from nearby communities, institutions and schools who were protesting systemic corruption, including what they called anomalous health centers and flawed infrastructure projects.

Nurses and nursing students led the participants, who were joined by community members of Kilusang Bayan Kontra Kurakot, health workers from the National Children’s Hospital, students and faculty from Trinity University of Asia, seminarians from St. Andrew Theological Seminary, and staff and parishioners of Sto. Niño de Violago Quasi Parish.

Following the march, which began at 1 p.m., a short program featured representatives sharing accounts of how “scandalous projects” acutely affected their daily lives, specifically citing residents of Damayang Lagi along E. Rodriguez who frequently suffer from flooding.

In a manifesto obtained by DAILY TRIBUNE, the group accused officials of allowing “ghost projects,” “ghost health centers,” and anomalous contracts to flourish while hospitals are denied proper funding.

“We see it in the meager wages and impossible workloads of health workers, while those in power indulge in excess, privilege and plunder,” the manifesto read. “Corruption is not simply a political issue — it is a national illness, a malignant growth that has strangled our institutions, suffocated the public trust, and kept generations of Filipinos in needless suffering.”

The group argued that corruption has been exposed “at its most grotesque stage” in spaces meant for healing, such as hospitals and health centers, draining the nation’s resources.

“Corruption is not accidental. It is systemic exploitation, engineered to keep the ruling elite comfortable while the people — including frontliners — struggle to survive,” the group said.

“Funds meant for hospitals, schools, vaccines, nutrition programs, and social services are siphoned into private pockets... Token reforms are no longer enough. What the nation needs now is radical treatment — real accountability, uncompromising transparency, people power, and collective moral courage,” it added.

The group plans to join the larger People’s Protest Against Corruption on 30 November at Luneta.