24/09/2025
Senate Bill No. 1330: No More Missing Millions?
Technology may just be our closest ally in our longstanding battle against corruption in the Philippines. Amidst the exposure of the staggering billions politicians have swindled through their ghost flood projects in the country, the need for a transparent system has become more urgent. Senate Bill No. 1330 might be the key to achieving this through its provisions that can revolutionize our national budgeting process. But while self-serving officials remain seated in their positions, our cries for accountability must resonate louder than ever.
Last September 2, Senator Paolo Benigno ‘Bam’ A. Aquino IV proposed Senate Bill No. 1330 instituting for the creation of a National Budget Blockchain System to promote accountability, integrity, and public participation regarding the nation’s budget. Through blockchain, “every peso of public funds allocated in the national budget is traceable, transparent, auditable, and accessible to citizens in real time.” Under the supervision of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Department of Budget Management (DBM), and Commission on Audit (COA), this bill intends to establish a public portal to real-time access to budget records as digital public assets (DPAs).
According to Britannica Money, this digital ledger works by storing transactions in the form of “blocks” that are identified through unique “hash numbers” to form “chains,” which all “nodes” or participating computers in the blockchain network have an updated copy of while changes are made. It is a decentralized, immutable, and consensus-based system, where new transactions are simply added to the chain instead of modifying previous ones upon the approval of all computers in the network. Hacking would be a virtually impossible task since 51% of the network’s nodes must have their hash modified in order for data to be tampered with.
Is the Philippines ready for these innovations? The short answer: yes. On July 30, the DBM launched its own blockchain application for the Action Document Releasing System (ADRS), the first of its kind in the region. Developed in partnership with BayaniChain, this application enables public access and traceability of budget documents, from National Tax Allotments (NTA) to Special Allotment Release Orders (SARO), all available at the app’s website. Imagine this at a larger scale through the bill—receipts readily available for citizens to track and question where millions of pesos are being spent.
Other countries have also ventured into the use of blockchain in streamlining government functions and services. A report from Rappler notes how Estonia recognizes the significance of its advanced blockchain technologies in discouraging corruption in its government, thereby promoting public trust. An article by BSV Blockchain states that countries like the United Arab Emirates and Singapore are amongst the nations maximizing the use of this technology, aligning several of their national endeavors with blockchain’s integrity. By integrating blockchain into the national budget, Filipinos may finally receive the reforms and justice we have been deprived of for too long.
Questions still linger around the process of supervision and verification under this system proposed by the bill. Furthermore, corruption may still prevail in other forms external to blockchain. But through its tamper-proof and decentralized features, the Philippines may gain a step closer towards eradicating the evil that is rotting the system from within. No more missing millions or empty promises from here on.
📝 Reign Yra M. Fernandez
🎨 McNeil S. Cadelinia
👩💻Doniel Aminitziel L. Chavez
