- A legislator in the Philippines is pushing the envelope for the government’s adoption of blockchain technology.
- The initiative aims to bolster transparency, accountability, and public participation in the Southeast Asian nation’s budget process.
Blockchain the Budget Bill
On Tuesday, Senator Bam Aquino introduced Senate Bill No. 1330 titled “Blockchain the Budget Bill” at the Philippine Senate. The bill seeks to ensure that public funds allocated in the national budget are “traceable, transparent, auditable, and accessible to citizens in real time.”
Aquino stated that the bill will guarantee that every peso in the national budget will reach the appropriate sectors or intended recipients. Additionally, he highlighted that the measure sees to it that public funds will be used properly up to the last cent.
The senator pointed out that the Philippines’ national budget is “one of the most important instruments of governance.” However, he lamented its limited access and too much technicality, which makes its oversight so complex and prevents it from public scrutiny.
“This bill seeks to modernize budget transparency and accountability through the use of blockchain technology,” said Aquino. “The goal is not only to make sure that the budget is publicly available, but also to ensure that it is accessible and open for citizen engagement.”
Moreover, the Filipino politician believes that blockchain technology offers a platform for enhancing collaboration across the executive and legislative branches of the government. It likewise empowers cooperation among the government, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders in the democratic process.
If it passes into law, the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) will coordinate with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Commission on Audit (COA) for the establishment of a blockchain-based budget system. All records of the national budget will be classified as digital public assets (DPAs) under the new framework.
An Opportune Moment for Discussion
The bill comes right on time as the Philippine Congress and the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. have launched separate probes into the anomalies involving high-ranking government officials, politicians, and private contractors in several government projects. The failed flood control projects, which led to catastrophic flooding in most parts of the country, are currently the focus of the investigations.
Based on estimates, the anomalous flood control projects have resulted in non-existent or ghost projects, substandard infrastructures, and misuse of funds from the national coffers. These resulted in an estimated hundreds of billions of pesos lost from the government’s budget, plus indeterminate damages in private and public infrastructures due to severe flooding from ongoing torrential rains.
Aquino’s bill serves as a potential safeguard against similar abuses in the future.
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