Philippine Senator Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV has proposed putting the country’s national budget on a blockchain to make government spending fully traceable to citizens.
Speaking at the Manila Tech Summit on Wednesday, Aquino argued that blockchain technology could enhance transparency in public finance, calling it an “innovative step” toward accountability.
“No one is crazy enough to put their transactions on blockchain, where every single step of the way will be logged and transparent to every single citizen. But we want to start,” Aquino told the audience.
If adopted, the Philippines could become the first nation to migrate its entire national budget to a blockchain, though Aquino acknowledged uncertainty about whether the idea would gain sufficient political support.
The Philippines has already taken early steps toward blockchain in public administration. Earlier this year, the Department of Budget and Management rolled out Asia’s first on-chain budget platform, developed with local firm BayaniChain, orchestration layer Prismo, and Polygon as the public blockchain ledger.
Currently, the platform records key budgetary instruments such as Special Allotment Release Orders (SAROs) and Notices of Cash Allocation (NCAs), providing tamper-proof, publicly verifiable records. However, it remains unclear whether this system could be scaled to handle the entire national budget, or if a new infrastructure would be required.
For now, Aquino’s vision remains a conceptual extension of the existing framework, with no formal legislative proposal filed.
Bam Aquino’s Blockchain Budget: Is the Philippines Following the US Lead?
In the United States, some lawmakers have also embraced blockchain as a tool for securing critical government data. Senator Bam Aquino’s proposal in the Philippines came just a day after U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced plans to publish key economic data on-chain.
Speaking at a White House cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Lutnick framed the initiative as part of the Trump administration’s broader pro-crypto agenda. The Department of Commerce plans to begin with GDP figures and eventually expand to other datasets, including census information and GDP estimates, making them accessible across federal agencies.
This parallel between the Philippines and the United States underscores a growing global trend toward leveraging blockchain for government transparency. Aquino’s vision goes beyond technology adoption: placing the national budget on a distributed ledger could set a new standard for accountability and financial transparency. Citizens would gain real-time insight into how tax revenues are allocated and spent across government departments.
While challenges related to implementation, scalability, and political backing remain, the proposal represents a key moment at the intersection of technology and governance. If successful, the Philippines’ blockchain budget could become a model for other nations seeking to enhance fiscal transparency and rebuild public trust in government through innovation.
