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According to Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Sec. Henry Aguda, the government is taking concrete steps to test whether blockchain can make the Philippine national budget more open and traceable.
He told the Malacañang Press Corps that a working prototype will be shown to senators and representatives to prove the idea can work. The move comes as lawmakers push a bill that would put budget documents and transaction records on a distributed ledger for public verification.
Aguda said the country has “a lot of experts on blockchain,” and that one of his tasks is to provide a minimum viable product so lawmakers can see a live demo before any full rollout.
He also mentioned that the DICT has been experimenting with stablecoin systems to trace peso transactions in banks. Reports say he will ask President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to certify the related bill as urgent, signaling that the executive branch may press for faster action.
Senate Bill 1330, titled the “Philippine National Budget Blockchain Act,” would require the executive branch, Congress, and local governments to upload and publish their budget transactions on a blockchain.
If enacted, citizens would be able to follow allocations, bids, disbursements, and contracts on a publicly visible chain. The bill also aims to borrow features from the Full Disclosure Bill so people can compare contracts and expense reports.
At a Senate hearing on SB1330, the Committee on Science and Technology discussed how blockchain might help expose delays or anomalies in spending. Sen. Bam Aquino told the panel that placing records on a public ledger could make budget processes “transparent, honest, and secure.”
Advocates say the visible chain would let ordinary citizens track where funds move and spot mismatches faster than current systems allow.
Not everyone is sold on the idea. Florin Hilbay, former Solicitor General and now dean at Silliman University College of Law, asked plainly:
“Do we really need to put the budget on a blockchain?”
He warned that what starts as a promise of openness could turn into a centralized database held on a few servers run by contractors.
Hilbay also pointed to cost concerns, saying the plan allocates PhP500 million ($8.6 million) as an initial expense, and he argued that smart contracts and validator nodes add complexity and new technical risks.
Aguda said the DICT will not tap public funds for the prototype and that private groups have already offered help.
