Philippine Senator Bam Aquino has set his sights on something big; he wants to put the country’s national budget on the blockchain. At the Manila Tech Summit on Wednesday, Aquino announced his plan to file a bill in the next couple of weeks to make government budgeting and transactions as transparent as possible by using a blockchain-based system.
Aiming for Transparency, But With a Catch
Aquino said:
“No one is crazy enough to put their transactions on blockchain, where every single step of the way will be logged and transparent to every single citizen. But we want to start.”
In other words, the government will make every peso spent visible to the public, potentially exposing just about everything. I mean, let’s be real: that’s some serious transparency. But I can’t help but wonder, how much support will Aquino actually get for this idea?
Blockchain-Based Budgeting
In a separate Facebook post, Aquino added that if this goes through, the Philippines could be the first country to have its entire budget on the blockchain. And he’s not exactly sure what kind of support he’ll get. Honestly, it’s going to be interesting to see how this plays out. Blockchain for budgeting could be groundbreaking, but I’m betting there’s a lot of resistance lurking behind the scenes, especially when it comes to government operations.
A Global Trend Toward Blockchain in Government
Aquino’s remarks came just after the Philippine Department of Budget and Management launched a blockchain-based document validation system on Polygon last month. This initiative is aimed at tackling deepfakes and ensuring that government documents aren’t tampered with. It’s unclear whether Aquino’s planned bill would tie into this project, but the timing seems almost too perfect.
Governments around the world are slowly dipping their toes into blockchain tech. For instance, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick recently announced that the U.S. department will begin publishing GDP statistics on the blockchain. It seems like blockchain is becoming more than just a buzzword, it’s starting to get some real traction in the public sector.
Meanwhile, in another move that caught my eye, Philippine Congressman Miguel Luis Villafuerte is proposing a bill to establish a strategic bitcoin reserve, with the goal of accumulating 10,000 BTC over the next five years. Talk about jumping headfirst into the crypto world.
I think we're seeing the start of something significant, not just in the Philippines, but worldwide. Blockchain in government is definitely one to watch. Will this idea gain traction or be buried under bureaucracy? Guess we’ll find out.
Gunel Ismayilova
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