Several proposals in the House of Representatives call for the Philippine national budget to be placed on the blockchain. This says supporters will open government spending to real-time public scrutiny.
Rep. Javier Miguel “Jabi” Benitez, District 3 of Negros Occidental, has introduced House Bill 4380, the “Blockchain the Budget Act,” which records all pesos in the national budget for blockchain leisure. The measure reflects Senators’ Bill 1330.
“I submitted House Building 4380, or the “Budget Blockchain Act,” and placed the entire Philippine national budget in the blockchain ledger. This is a secure digital record where every transaction is permanent and tampered with. The goal is to make all your pesos visible at real time. Benitez said in a Facebook post.
“If passed, this measure will make the Philippines a pioneer in open budget governance, prove that modern technology fights corruption, strengthens accountability and has clear access to the costs of public funds,” he added.
Benitez emphasized that his proposal would complement Aquino’s Senate version and coordinate both chambers towards what he described as “open budget governance.”
Source: Javi Benitez/Facebook
Poe backs transparency through blockchain
Rep. Brian Poe Llamanzares, who represents the FPJ Panday Bayanihan PartyList and leads the assistant majority, submitted his own version on September 9th. It is officially entitled “Acts and implementation mandatory to establish and implement a national budget blockchain system to enhance transparency, responsibility, and strengthen public participation in the Philippine budget process.”
The POE, who is also a trustee of the Philippine Blockchain Council (BCP), said the system makes allocations and spending easier to make it unchanging and public. His proposal mandates the creation of a national budget blockchain system under the supervision of the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Ministry of Budget and Control (DBM), and the Audit Committee (COA).
Under the proposed POE bill, all budget transactions will be entered as digital public assets on the blockchain, allowing citizens, watchdog groups and watchdog agencies to access public portals.
FPJ Padays Herog PartyList Councilman Brian Poe Llanzares. (Brian Poe Lanzales)
Baba is promoting wider government adoption
Rep. Angelo Barba of Ilocos Norte previously introduced House Bill 4075. His proposals go beyond the national budget and aim to institutionalize the use of blockchain in several areas of government.
The measure requires procurement, recordkeeping, financial transactions, licensing, permitting, and gradual deployment of blockchains in citizen registries. Under the plan, DICT and other agencies will draft implementation rules.
Barba claimed that adopting blockchain technology would bring about it in line with the Philippines’ governments around the world experimenting with similar systems. He said the tamper-proof and verifiable nature of blockchains could reduce opportunities for corruption, prevent delays and improve the efficiency of service delivery.
A broader context in the Senate counterpart
The House of Representatives push is based on Aquino Senate Bill 1330, which aims to create a national budget blockchain system. Acquino previously said the bill was designed to “modernize budget transparency and accountability” and to make budget documents easier to access and understand.
Aquino noted that national budgets are one of the most important tools of governance, but are often technical, inaccessible and difficult to review. Blockchain claimed it could ensure that “there are no more hidden projects unknown to local governments.”
The Senate version also envisions a real-time public portal that allows anyone, from citizens to civil society groups, to track government spending.
Reform the momentum of the parliament
As Benitez, Poe and Barba have separately submitted related proposals, the home has at least three measures advocating for the use of blockchain in governance. Everything remains pending on the committee, but will reflect the growing momentum of the Philippine Parliament and integrate emerging technologies into the state’s processes.
Advocates believe that recording national budgets in a tamper-proof digital ledger will reduce the risk of corruption, increase accountability, and empower citizens to monitor projects and spending.
In his post, Benitez emphasized that blockchain potential lies in its ability to make public funds “trackable to projects, agents and Centavo.” Poe framed his bill as part of wider transparency and participation reform, but Barba presented his measure as a step to align the Philippines with global practices.
For now, the bill will be deliberated by the committee. If approved, they will move on to the overall discussion before a two-civil settlement with Aquino’s Senate proposal.
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