MANILA — Senator Bam Aquino has filed a measure seeking to mandate the creation of a blockchain-based national budget system, aiming to guarantee full transparency and public participation in government spending.

Under Senate Bill No. 1330, every peso allocated in the national budget will be recorded on a blockchain ledger—making transactions traceable, auditable, and accessible to citizens in real time.

“Sa paggamit natin ng makabagong teknolohiya, masisiguro natin na bawat piso sa ating national budget ay mapupunta sa pinaglalaanan. Matitiyak din ng taumbayan na ito’y nagagamit sa tama, hanggang sa huling sentimo,” Aquino said.

The lawmaker stressed that while the national budget is the government’s most important policy tool, related documents remain highly technical and difficult to scrutinize, limiting public oversight.

Aquino said the blockchain system would allow collaboration between the Executive and Legislative branches, civil society organizations, and ordinary citizens, ensuring all budget transactions are transparent, immutable, and resistant to tampering.

“This ensures that every peso can be tracked by the public. No more ‘fly-by-night’ contractors. No more hidden projects unknown to local governments,” Aquino said, adding that material costs across contracts would also become easier to compare.

If passed, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), together with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Commission on Audit (COA), will implement the blockchain platform. All records of the national budget will be stored as digital public assets (DPAs), with a portal providing real-time access to agencies, projects, and beneficiaries.

Aquino said the measure would “modernize budget transparency and accountability,” and allow Filipinos to follow the money down to the last centavo.