One year needed to integrate blockchain tech in budget use, DICT says

THE Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said that it would take at least a year to implement blockchain technology to support transparency in budget transactions.

Asked by Senator Paolo Benigno “Bam” A. Aquino IV how long it would take to fully implement blockchain technology in the budget process, the DICT chief said, “one year.”

“In one year, if we have the political will to do this, because we already have the technology,” DICT Secretary Henry Rhoel R. Aguda told senators on Thursday.

According to the DICT chief, the government can begin first with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to initially upload all budget transactions in a blockchain.

“We can use the DBM and then DPWH. The objective is not the entire government in one year, but a major government agency,” Mr. Aguda said.

“If that is completed within a year, we can already repeat that process again,” he added.

Blockchains are a decentralized, digital ledger that records transactions across a network linked together.

Mr. Aquino, earlier, filed Senate Bill No. 1330 which seeks to establish a blockchain-based budget system that records transactions across the entire budget cycle in real time, amid concerns of irregularities in the budget process.

The proposed measure mandates all budget preparation, legislation, execution and audit to be logged into digital public assets accessible through a public-facing portal.

In the same hearing, the senator said that his bill will strengthen collaboration across the executive and legislative branches of the government alongside civil society organizations and other stakeholders.

“By no means is this the only solution, but many of us here believe that this can be one of the major solutions to our problems,” Mr. Aquino said. “Putting the budget on the blockchain is a way to ensure that every peso of the people’s money is monitored.”

The government’s budget has drawn criticism over alleged blank items and congressional budget insertions in the 2025 general appropriations act. President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. delayed signing the budget for more than a week in December to review its provisions before vetoing more than P194 billion worth of items deemed inconsistent with his administration’s priorities. — Adrian H. Halili