The Senate has approved on third and final reading a measure that would require all government agencies to publicly disclose detailed budget and procurement records through a tamper-proof, blockchain-based digital platform.

With a unanimous 17–0 vote, Senate Bill No. 1506, or The Citizen Access and Disclosure of Expenditures for National Accountability (CADENA) Act, was passed on December 15 by the Senate, aiming to strengthen transparency and accountability in public spending amid heightened scrutiny over corruption.

Principally authored by Sen. Bam Aquino, the bill mandates the creation of a centralized Digital Budget Platform where agencies must regularly upload budget-related documents, including contracts, project costs, bills of materials, and procurement records.

Under the measure, all uploaded records will be made accessible to the public and designed to be tamper-resistant, traceable, open-source, and independently verifiable through blockchain technology. Officials or agencies that fail to disclose required documents or submit fraudulent information may face administrative and criminal penalties.

The CADENA Act provides for the establishment of a National Budget Blockchain System that will record and monitor all stages of the national budget process, from project allocation and procurement to disbursement. Once encoded, records will be registered as Digital Public Records that cannot be altered without leaving an audit trail.

According to the bill’s explanatory note, applying blockchain technology to public finance management would allow “every peso [to be] traceable, every transaction auditable, and every record tamper-proof.”

Aquino said the system would allow citizens to directly monitor how public funds are spent. 

“Once the CADENA Act is enacted, the people will be able to see and monitor where every peso funded by the government goes,” he said.

The Senate approved the measure shortly after it was endorsed by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council, following President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s declaration certifying it as a priority bill alongside other key reform measures, including the Anti-Dynasty Bill, the proposed Independent People’s Commission Act, and the Party-List System Reform Act.

Meanwhile, its counterpart measure, House Bill No. 6761, remains pending at the committee level in the House of Representatives. 

Aquino urged House lawmakers to fast-track the passage of the CADENA Act “to support the shared goal of eradicating corruption in government and ensuring that funds from taxpayers are properly spent.”

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