Hundreds of Mapúa University students walk out of their classrooms in Manila on Wednesday, 15 October 2025, to protest against widespread government corruption tied to anomalous flood control projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways.
JohnCarloMagallon
A proposed P107.4 billion flood control allocation in the Philippines' 2027 budget has drawn criticism from teachers as monsoon rains disrupt schools and communities, with a corruption scandal involving the country's flood projects still under investigation.
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) said the government should recover money lost to alleged corruption and hold those responsible accountable before pouring more public funds into flood-control projects.
Flood control spending was removed from the 2026 national budget amid investigations into alleged anomalies, but the proposed 2027 allocation puts it back in the spending plan.
“Hindi kami tutol sa pagresolba sa lumalalang problema sa baha, ngunit higit isang taon na ang lumipas at mukhang inanod na rin ang pangako ng administrasyong pananagutin ang lahat ng sangkot sa malawakang korapsyon,” said ACT chairperson Ruby Bernardo.
“Sampal sa mamamayan ang pagbabalik ng daan-daang bilyong piso sa flood control projects nang hindi naibabalik ang nilustay at ninakaw na pondo ng bayan,” she added.
The group cited initial Department of Education figures showing about 8,000 schools and 6 million learners had been affected by learning disruptions, while more than 200 schools were being used as evacuation centers.
DepEd’s recent damage assessments also found 1,157 schools with reported damage, including 3,936 minor-damaged classrooms, 1,346 major-damaged classrooms and 1,301 totally damaged classrooms.
“These recurring realities show that climate-resilient schools cannot be achieved without resilient communities,” Bernardo said.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said last month that nearly P25 billion in assets linked to the flood control scandal had been recovered, frozen or preserved, with more than P800 million returned to the national treasury.
The Department of Justice separately said it had recovered more than P841 million in cash from alleged ghost flood control projects as of July 29.
“It is painfully clear why we keep suffering the same disasters, barely moving forward only to be pushed miles back because of systemic corruption, misplaced priorities, and the government’s lack of political will and decisive action,” Bernardo said.
‘Education bears one of the heaviest costs, not only from calamities but also from a rotten system that continues to fail our people,” she added.###
