Joselito Malig

Article (news)

Harlene Delgado

ABS-CBN News

MANILA -- The Department of Information and Communications Technology expressed confidence that the use of blockchain technology for the 2026 national budget is “hack-free” and “tamper-proof”.DICT Secretary Henry Aguda said the Philippine legislative body is the first in Asia to put its entire national budget on blockchain and the first country in the world with fully on-chain national budget.“Habang ang ibang bansa ay gumagamit lamang ng blockchain sa mga portions of their budget, ito pong taon na ito, matatapos ang taon na ang Pilipinas ang maglalagay ng buong budget cycle sa isang tamper-proof system,” he said in a Palace press briefing Thursday, January 15.“Wala pang bansa na gumawa nito – mula approval, paggastos, disbursement hanggang reporting,” he added. Aguda described blockchain as a “cybersecurity first” system that was “designed to be secure from the start”.“To date, right now, iyong chain itself wala pa akong alam na na-hack, usually ang naha-hack iyong mga surrounding systems around it” he stated. Calling it an &quot;integrity layer&quot; or government watchdog, the DICT said the blockchain technology will provide “long-term traceability” where the public can track the flow of government finances.The system, according to Aguda, aims to prevent corruption, track public funds clearly, provide continuity of records across administrations and foster stronger trust among the public.“Kapag ang budget ay may permanenteng digital record na hindi puwedeng baguhin nang palihim, mas mahirap madaya, mas madaling managot. Ikalawa, alam ng tao kung saan napupunta ang pera,” he said. Citing the Department of Budget and Management, Aguda said a transparency portal will be made available to the public beginning today, January 15.<div>‘NO MORE GHOST PROJECTS’</div>The current blockchain technology for the national budget is a public blockchain implemented through a third-party company. It has no cost to the government following a grant from private company BayaniChain, according to Aguda.DICT Undersecretary Dave Almirol said they hope to launch a consortium blockchain by the end of the year or early next year where the government will own nodes that can be integrated to other blockchains.  “Ibig sabihin, para tatlong transparency server na mayroon po ang DICT, mayroon po ang COA, mayroon din po ang DBM, so kapag nagpasok ng budget po, data ng DBM, kita po agad-agad iyan ng DICT, kita rin iyan ng COA,” he explained.“Kapag may nagpasok naman po ng report, halimbawa in-award itong project na ito kay, halimbawa, Contractor A, kita rin po ng tatlong server po iyan. At sinabi doon, ‘Oh, bayad na itong project na ito,’ kita rin po iyan, ‘Oh, 30% done na iyan.’ So, wala na pong ghost project dito. Mababantayan po natin ito,” the DICT official further noted. The agency plans to expand the use of blockchain technology to other government services once the Citizen Access and Disclosure of Expenditures for National Accountability (CADENA) Act be enacted into law.“Once the budget has been allocated officially, we’ll start constructing na the blockchain that will not cater just to the budget but for the whole CADENA execution,” Aguda said.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/12/15/senate-passes-cadena-act-on-third-and-final-reading-1843" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Senate passes CADENA Act on third and final reading</a></div>

The Department of Information and Communications Technology expressed confidence that the use of blockchain technology for the 2026 national budget is “hack-free” and “tamper-proof”.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology expressed confidence that the use of blockchain technology for the 2026 national budget is “hack-free” and “tamper-proof”.

Blockchain technology for national budget 'hack-free,' 'tamper-proof' — DICT

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Blockchain technology for national budget 'hack-free,' 'tamper-proof' — DICT

Harlene Delgado,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jan 15, 2026 07:16 PM PHT

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Updated Jan 16, 2026 06:55 PM PHT

Read More:

blockchain

cybersecurity

national budget

2026 national budget

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