Empowering teachers provide direction and serve as emotional glue that causes school community to excel. This study assessed the mediating role of transformational leadership on the relationship between the empowering mechanism and ethical leadership behavior. Descriptive correlational design of research was employed in this study. The study utilized the total enumeration technique wherein 330 respondents were selected based on their willingness to participate in the study and at least had been teaching in Sariaya East District DepEd Division of Quezon Philippines for at least one year. Results of the study revealed a significant indirect effect of empowering mechanism on the ethical leadership behavior. Furthermore, the direct effect of empowering mechanism on the ethical behavior in presence of the transformational leadership as a mediator was also found significant. Hence, transformational leadership partially mediated the relationship between empowering mechanisms and ethical leadership behavior. The researcher encouraged school heads to maximize the empowering mechanisms in school to strengthen teacher empowerment by identifying teachers who seek professional growth and willing to access high quality and continuous professional growth thru the technical assistance program of the school and encourage teacher’s participation in school decision making process. School transformational leadership can be seen an essential tool in mediating empowering mechanisms of schools in fostering ethical leadership behavior since it focuses on establishing school culture, vision to enhance the quality of school teaching and learning, develop people, and improve the organization.

leadership