A civic group advocating greater transparency in government spending is pushing for the passage of a bill that would put the national budget on a blockchain-based system, saying a permanent digital record could make it harder to manipulate public funds and conceal irregularities.

The Concerned Citizens for Digitized Expenditure and National Audit (CADENA) said the government should move beyond investigating corruption after it happens and instead build safeguards that make questionable transactions easier to detect and harder to alter.

“We are trying to find corruption, but this time we have to take it seriously. The best way is to digitalize it, like the blockchain,” said Dani Belo, lead convener of the CADENA movement.

CADENA co-covernor for Visayas Nick Malazarte explained that blockchain operates through a shared ledger in which records are validated and stored across multiple participants.

“Yung blockchain po isang ah platform o tinatawag nating teknolohiya kung saan may tinatawag na collective ledger ibig sabihin sa isang dokumento ah or or less 10 tao 'yung nakatingin or more more independent ah people are part of that block chain kaya po blockchain,”’ he said.

He said the technology could eventually be used for government contracts and other records that need to be independently verified.

For government procurement, CADENA said the system would create a permanent audit trail showing transactions and changes to budget records.

“Walang pwedeng itago dito hindi pwedeng itago 'yung 20% 30% 40% like ito expose sa lahat expose po sa lahat,” Belo said.

“This is not a perfect solution, but it’s a big step forward to solve the corruption problem here in the country,” he added.

The proposed Citizen Access and Disclosure of Expenditures for National Accountability Act, seeks to establish a National Budget Blockchain System covering the different stages of the national budget process.

The Senate approved the measure 17-0 in December 2025. It is awaiting action in the House of Representatives. 

Under the bill, government budget and expenditure records would be published through a digital platform using distributed-ledger technology, making transactions traceable and records resistant to unauthorized alteration.