Blockchain seen to make gov’t budget transparent
The Philippines’ biggest fintech group is urging lawmakers to swiftly pass a bill that would use blockchain to make the national budget process more transparent and efficient.
In a statement on Tuesday, the FinTech Alliance Philippines called for the immediate passage of the “Blockchain the Budget Bill” filed by Sen. Bam Aquino.
Under Aquino’s Senate Bill No. 1330, blockchain technology will be utilized to ensure that every peso of public funds allocated in the national budget is traceable, transparent, auditable and accessible to citizens in real time.
While the national budget is one of the most important instruments of governance, Aquino said documents related to it have remained closed, highly technical and difficult to understand, making oversight almost impossible.
Lito Villanueva, founding chair of FinTech Alliance, said, “By leveraging blockchain, we can finally give every Filipino the power to see exactly how their hard-earned money is spent.”
If enacted into law, the Department of Information and Communications Technology, in coordination with the Department of Budget and Management and the Commission on Audit (COA), will establish a blockchain-based system where all records of the budget are recorded as digital public assets (DPAs).
A public portal with real-time access to DPAs will be established to enable citizens, the COA and oversight bodies to independently verify the flow of funds, down to the agencies, projects and beneficiaries.
