Philippine Senator Bam Aquino stated that he will propose a bill to bring the national budget and public transactions onto the blockchain to increase transparency, expected to be submitted in the coming weeks.
This move follows a series of blockchain experiments in the Philippine public sector and the global trend of digital government, emphasizing the goal of “every peso being transparent and traceable” and enhancing accountability.
MAIN CONTENT
The Philippines plans to present a bill to store the budget and public transactions on the blockchain to increase transparency.
The local ecosystem has made foundational steps: BCP-DICT collaboration since 2023, implementing digital document verification.
International experience shows that a pilot roadmap, standardization, independent auditing, and security infrastructure are needed.
What is the bill to bring the Philippine budget onto the blockchain?
This is a proposal to integrate the budget and government transactions into a blockchain platform to increase transparency, traceability, and accountability.
According to BusinessWorld on Facebook, Senator Bam Aquino plans to submit the bill in the coming weeks, aiming to “integrate the budget and government transactions onto a blockchain platform for greater transparency.” This approach helps form an immutable ledger, always ready for reconciliation, supporting audits in near real-time.
At the Manila Tech Summit 2025, Mr. Aquino emphasized that technology can enhance accountability in governance, especially with the budget. Moving public spending data onto a distributed ledger allows citizens to track the flow of funds while reducing the space for errors or data manipulation.
“I also talked about innovations such as blockchain-based budgeting so that every peso is transparent and accountable. By using blockchain for the budget, we can ensure that the public knows where every peso goes.”
– Bam Aquino, Philippine Senator, 2025, personal Facebook
Who proposed it and what is the core goal?
Senator Bam Aquino is the one who proposed the idea, aiming to turn the budget into publicly monitorable data, reduce corruption, and increase spending efficiency.
Mr. Aquino is the face promoting digital innovation, emphasizing the motto “know where every peso goes.” Technically, blockchain provides an immutable transaction history, timestamps, and digital signatures, allowing independent auditors to verify the data. The core goal is not only transparency but also verifiability by numbers.
Such systems also create a foundation for spending data analysis over time, supporting policy decision-making based on evidence, as long as sensitive data is protected according to regulations.
When could the bill be presented?
According to BusinessWorld on Facebook, Mr. Aquino plans to submit in the coming weeks, indicating a relatively close timeline to initiate the legislative process.
This timeline aligns with announcing at a major technology event, creating momentum for policy discussions. After submission, bills typically undergo hearings, technical critiques, and budget impact assessments. Preparing technical documentation, data standards, and risk assessments will determine the timeline.
If there is an early small-scale pilot, the legislature will have more experimental data to refine the draft before expanding.
What benefits does on-chain budgeting bring for transparency and accountability?
The main benefits are immutability, traceability, near-real-time transparency, and reduced reconciliation costs between agencies.
The OECD report on blockchain in the public sector shows that distributed ledgers help reduce information asymmetry and increase public trust when designed purposefully (OECD, 2018). An on-chain budgeting system could open public APIs for the press, research institutions, and the public to monitor spending by program and contractor, while also providing data snapshots for state audits.
It is essential to establish clear decentralization: who records, who approves, who views. The level of public access needs to be tiered to protect sensitive data while ensuring independent verification.
How has the Philippines previously adopted blockchain?
The Philippines has taken foundational steps, including promoting digital document verification based on blockchain and increasing public-private cooperation.
At the end of July, the Philippine government announced a document verification system on Polygon, showing the direction to use blockchain for information verification. Although the network experienced local disruptions the same day, the main message is to bring practical applications into the digital administrative infrastructure, starting from high-value verification processes.
Additionally, the Blockchain Council of the Philippines (BCP) has partnered with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) since 2023 to lead the adoption of blockchain through public-private partnerships. This cooperation creates a network of experts, prepares human resources, and operational standards.
Who is BCP and what is their role in the ecosystem?
BCP is a local non-profit organization promoting blockchain adoption, serving as a bridge between government, businesses, and the tech community.
In an interview with Cointelegraph in the summer of 2023, BCP founder Donald Lim expressed hope that the Philippines could become a regional blockchain hub. The role of BCP includes policy consulting, application model testing, and training support for government agencies.
“We truly believe that we can become the blockchain hub of Asia.”
– Donald Lim, Founder of the Blockchain Council of the Philippines, 2023, Cointelegraph
What are the risks and challenges of putting the budget on the blockchain?
Risks include the protection of sensitive data, scalability, network disruptions, input discrepancies, and inter-agency governance.
Blockchain does not solve the garbage in–garbage out problem; source data must be quality controlled and rigorously validated. Network disruptions or fluctuating transaction fees can also affect user experience, as the aforementioned local disruption incident shows the need for backups and a Plan B.
The World Bank recommends a clear governance model, common data standards, and early legal assessments for public sector blockchain projects (World Bank, 2019). Regular security audits and bug bounties help mitigate risks.
Should a public or permissioned blockchain be chosen?
Depending on the goals: maximum transparency is public, permissioned increases control and privacy. Many governments choose a hybrid model.
With the budget, transaction data can be aggregated and metadata made public, while sensitive information is stored at a private layer, only hashed to the public chain to ensure integrity. A permissioned chain helps control the writing rights of departments, while a public chain ensures independent verifiability.
The hybrid model is suitable for the initial stage: starting with permissioned to control risk, while publicly disclosing key metrics and moving towards public expansion when ready.
What technical criteria are needed for the on-chain budgeting platform?
Core criteria include security, auditability, system interaction, performance, and user experience.
Regarding security: digital signatures, access control, immutable logs, strong encryption standards. Regarding auditing: complete timestamps, identification of spending entities, document trail paths. Regarding interaction: integration with existing financial systems, open data standards, public APIs with rate limits and monitoring.
Performance needs to handle the cyclical volume of budget transactions, with a low-cost storage mechanism for large data and an indexing layer for public queries.
What lessons are there from other governments using blockchain?
International cases show: starting from data validation and public record issues, setting data standards before technology, and implementing phased pilot programs.
Estonia used KSI blockchain to protect the integrity of state data early on, focusing on verification rather than storing all content on-chain (e-Estonia). Georgia piloted land registration with Bitfury since 2017, reducing the time for ownership verification (Forbes, 2017). Maharashtra state in India issued graduation certificates on Polygon since 2021 to combat forgery (CoinDesk, 2021).
Common points: narrow scope, clear measurement goals, accompanying legal framework, and independent auditing from the outset.
What roadmap should the Philippines follow to reduce risks?
A feasible roadmap: small pilot, data standardization, independent auditing, expanding functions layer by layer, and transparent communication.
Step 1: choose a narrow scope such as the spending of a budget program, standardize the expenditure categories, beneficiaries, and identify contractors. Step 2: publicly disclose the dashboard of aggregated data and transaction metadata. Step 3: conduct disruption testing, security drills, and implement a bug bounty.
Step 4: expand by department, connect the treasury, state data warehouses, and invite an independent third party to evaluate after each phase for adjustments.
What needs to be monitored in the coming weeks?
The focus is on the timing of the bill submission, the pilot scope, the proposed technical architecture, and the data disclosure mechanism for the public.
If the draft clearly states data standards, inter-agency governance models, and security strategies, the likelihood of support will be higher. The involvement of DICT, the Department of Finance, and audit agencies will determine operational feasibility.
At the same time, critiques from the technology, academic, and media communities will help refine the bill, ensuring a balance between transparency and the protection of sensitive data.
Frequently asked questions
What is blockchain-based budgeting?
It is the model of recording budgets and public transactions on a distributed ledger to ensure immutability, traceability, and independent verification, helping to increase transparency and accountability.
When could the bill be presented?
According to BusinessWorld on Facebook, Senator Bam Aquino plans to submit in the coming weeks after his speech at the Manila Tech Summit 2025.
Should a public or permissioned blockchain be used?
A hybrid model is often optimal: public aggregated data for social monitoring, while sensitive data is protected in a permissioned network, only hashed to the public chain.
What is the greatest benefit for the public?
Near-real-time transparency regarding budget cash flows reduces the space for misappropriation and increases the monitoring capacity of the public, the press, and independent audit agencies.
What are the main risks that need governance?
Protecting sensitive data, network disruptions, input data quality, and inter-agency coordination. Security audits and clear data standards are needed.
Source: https://tintucbitcoin.com/ngan-sach-chinh-phu-philippines-len-blockchain/
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