By JUN ELIAS
Senator Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV has filed a landmark bill that seeks to revolutionize government transparency by placing the entire national budget on a blockchain system, making every peso of public spending traceable and accessible to citizens in real time.
Sen. Aquino said his Senate Bill No. 1330, or the “National Budget Blockchain Act,” is a direct response to the public’s mounting frustration over “ghost projects” and alleged irregularities in multi-billion-peso flood control projects.
“Ang mga pondong nawala sa mga ghost flood control projects sana nakapagtayo ng mga silid-aralan,” Aquino said, highlighting the massive disparity between wasted funds and the country’s urgent needs.
The senator has repeatedly pointed to the irony of billions being funneled into ineffective flood control initiatives while the nation struggles with a severe classroom shortage, a crisis that has left more than 166,000 classrooms unbuilt and millions of students without proper learning facilities. He stressed that funds siphoned off through corruption could instead be used to address and prioritize these critical needs.
Aquino, who chairs the Education and Senate Committee on Science and Technology, is championing the bill as a crucial step toward modernizing governance.
“Yung digitalization kung gagawin nang tama, magreresulta ito sa mas mahusay na pamamahala na may badyet na mas kaunti ang mga racket, mas kaunti ang mga proyektong alanganin at talagang nakatuon sa mga bagay na direktang mapupunta sa tao. Aquino said, adding that “for the longest time, the digitization of our country has been stagnant.”
The proposed system, to be established by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) in coordination with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Commission on Audit (COA), will create an immutable digital ledger.
This technology ensures that every single transaction—from allocation to disbursement—is permanent.
