Phl adopts blockchain system to safeguard 2026 GAA

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on Thursday announced the integration of blockchain technology into the 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA), dubbed the Digital Bayanihan Chain, to prevent the misuse of public funds and protect the national budget from corruption.

DICT Secretary Henry Aguda said the initiative marks a major step toward digital governance and transparency.

“This is a critical step towards digital governance. This digital technology aims to earn the highest trust in the government. This integration is being pushed by the House Speaker and Senate President. The Philippines is the first legislative body in Asia to use blockchain for the national budget,” Aguda said during a Palace press briefing.

Under the system, the national budget will have a digital record that cannot be altered or falsified.

“We leapfrogged while other nations only use blockchain in some portion of their funds. By the end of this year, the Philippines will be the first to put its entire national budget into a tamper-proof system. No other nation did this, from approval, disbursement, to reporting. The budget can be verified even after so many years have passed. As they say, the 2026 National Budget has now forever because it be scrutinized forever,” he said.

The Digital Bayanihan Chain, which emphasizes accountability, transparency, and traceability, is being implemented in coordination with the House of Representatives and the Department of Budget and Management.

Aguda said the system was launched without releasing any government funds and forms part of Senate Bill No. 1506, or the proposed Citizen Access and Disclosure of Expenditures for National Accountability (CADENA) Act. The bill was approved by the Senate in December 2025 with a 17-0 vote and no abstentions.

The measure mandates all government agencies to upload and regularly update detailed budget-related documents on a centralized digital platform, including contracts, project costs, bills of materials, and procurement records.

“If the CADENA Bill were approved and became full-pledge law, the Digital Bayanihan Chain’ would receive allocation as mandated by the law. We expect the budget for the blockchain to fulfill the mandate of CADENA. Once the budget has been allocated officially, we start constructing the blockchain that will not only cater to the national budget for the whole CADENA execution,” Aguda said.

The CADENA bill is among the priority measures expected to be signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. this year.

Aguda said the government could save “several billions” of pesos as the use of paper would be reduced, duplicate project entries eliminated, and redundant IT systems avoided.

Senator Bam Aquino, the bill’s principal author, earlier urged the House to act swiftly on its counterpart measure, House Bill No. 6761, filed by Negros Occidental 3rd District Rep. Javier Miguel Benitez.

Hack-resistant system

Aguda said the blockchain system is designed to be resistant to hacking, as it was developed by cybersecurity specialists.

“If you will remember the history of Bitcoin, one of the first blockchain technologies, it’s already encrypted. At the same time, the systems themselves cannot be reverse-engineered, especially the content. To date, I have not known of any blockchain that has been hacked. Usually, the surrounding systems around it are those that can be hacked. So, it’s a cybersecurity-first system, designed to be secured from the start,” he said.

Aguda added that the Digital Bayanihan Chain will include a public transparency portal, which will be available starting January 15, with the website address to be released immediately.

In a 2021 study by Neil Efren Villanueva of De La Salle University, concerns were raised about the security and privacy challenges of combining blockchain technology with the Internet of Things.

“One can observe the vast growth of the IoT technology. Legal and regulatory issues, lack of IoT-centric Transaction Validation Rules, Consensus Protocol, and interoperability are some of the concerns when applying Blockchain technology to IoT. The machine-to-machine setup or the IoT device integration is one of the major concerns with Blockchain technology,” Villanueva said.

He also cited challenges in the financial sector, including centralized systems, transaction speed, and the high cost of implementation and maintenance.

“This contradicts the special feature of the Blockchain technology. However, recent developments in technology have addressed this problem. Another challenge is the transaction per second of the financial institution. Aside from that, the cost of initiation, implementation, and maintenance is of major concern. These require a substantial amount of funding to initialize and implement, as the entire system encompasses both hardware and software. Moreover, financial institutions require large-scale integration and migration from the previous system and maintenance of the whole system,” he said in his study titled Blockchain Technology Application: Challenges, Limitations and Issues.