MANILA, Philippines — The Senate approved the Citizen Access and Disclosure of Expenditures for National Accountability (CADENA) Act, a bill moving to place government budget records on a blockchain to improve transparency measures.
The bill had been certified as a priority legislation by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in a bid to regain public trust after a massive corruption scandal was uncovered at the Department of Public Works and Highways.
The measure hurdled the third and final reading on Monday, December 15, with 17 senators voting in the affirmative, and with no negative votes or abstentions.
Sen. Bam Aquino, the principal author of the bill, said the heightened public demand for transparency following the infrastructure scandal helped fast-track the measure’s passage in the Senate.
“If you look at this transparency measure, kung hindi nangyayari iyong nangyayari ngayon na investigation, palagay ko walang chance iyan. Pero dahil iyong taumbayan nakatutok dito ngayon na may mangyaring pagbabago sa mga sistema na nagdulot ng ganitong klaseng corruption, may tsansa iyang mapasa,” Aquino said.
(If you look at this transparency measure, if the investigations were not happening, I think it does not have a chance. But because the people are focused on seeing changes in the system that caused this kind of corruption, it had a chance of passing.)
“If you look at this transparency measure, kung hindi nangyayari iyong nangyayari ngayon na investigation, palagay ko walang chance iyan. Pero dahil iyong taumbayan nakatutok dito ngayon na may mangyaring pagbabago sa mga sistema na nagdulot ng ganitong klaseng corruption, may tsansa iyang mapasa,” Aquino said.
(If you look at this transparency measure, if the investigations were not happening, I think it does not have a chance. But because the people themselves are waiting to see if something will change in the system that has caused this level of corruption, it had a chance of passing.)
What the CADENA Act requires
The CADENA Act would mandate all government agencies to upload and regularly maintain all their budget-related documents on a digital platform secured through blockchain technology.
These include contracts, budget allocations, material costs, procurement records and other related documents.
The files will then be made accessible to the public, and cannot be tampered with. Government officials who fail to comply may face administrative and criminal penalties.
The House of Representatives’ version of the bill is still pending at the committee level, despite being certified as priority legislation.
Aquino urged the lower house to pass the CADENA Act as soon as possible to help eliminate corruption.
