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Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
TWENTIETH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
House Bill No. 4380 
Introduced by REP. JAVIER MIGUEL L. BENITEZ 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The Philippine government has made significant strides in budget transparency 
through the General Appropriations Act and Commission on Audit (“COA”) 
audits; yet, persistent challenges remain. Citizens and oversight institutions often 
face delays, fragmented reporting, and limited access to verifiable data on the 
allocation and utilization of public funds. Mismanagement, errors, and 
occasional irregularities continue to undermine public trust.  
This bill, the Philippine National Budget Blockchain Act, seeks to address these 
challenges by establishing a blockchain-based system that records all budget 
transactions as Digital Public Assets (DPAs), providing immutable, real-time, 
and publicly accessible data on government spending. 
Under the measure, the Department of Information and Communications 
Technology (DICT), in coordination with the Department of Budget and 
Management (DBM) and the COA, will develop and maintain the system. 
Features such as immutability, decentralization, traceability, and smart contract 
automation ensure that fund releases and financial reporting are reliable, 
efficient, and auditable by both government institutions and the public. All 
government agencies will be mandated to integrate existing financial systems 
into the blockchain, promoting interoperability and consistent data standards 
across agencies. 
This Act is grounded in the State’s constitutional mandate to ensure 
transparency, accountability, and prudent use of public funds.1 It also seeks to 
1 Section 27, Article II, 1987 Constitution. 
  Section 29, Article VI, 1987 Constitution. 
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advance the Philippines’ commitment to digital governance and open data 
initiatives, promoting citizen access to information and efficient, technology-
driven government processes. By institutionalizing blockchain technology in 
budget management, the bill empowers citizens and oversight bodies to 
independently verify the allocation and utilization of resources, fostering fiscal 
responsibility and public trust in government operations. 
This bill serves as a counterpart to a Senate bill filed by Senator Paolo Benigno 
“Bam” A. Aquino IV in the 20th Congress, and aligns with other related measures 
filed in both chambers of Congress that pursue similar goals of fiscal 
transparency and public participation. 
In view of the foregoing, the passage of this bill is earnestly sought. 
JAVIER MIGUEL L. BENITEZ 
  Section 2, Article IX-D, 1987 Constitution. 


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Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
TWENTIETH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
House Bill No. 4380 
Introduced by REP. JAVIER MIGUEL L. BENITEZ 
AN ACT MANDATING THE ESTABLISHMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION 
OF A NATIONAL BUDGET BLOCKCHAIN SYSTEM TO ENHANCE 
TRANSPARENCY, 
ACCOUNTABILITY, 
AND 
PUBLIC 
PARTICIPATION IN THE PHILIPPINE BUDGET PROCESS 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
Section 1. Short Title. – This Act shall be known as the “Philippine National 
Budget Blockchain Act.” 
SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. – It is hereby declared the policy of the State 
to promote transparency, accountability, and good governance in the 
management and disbursement of public funds. To this end, the State recognizes 
the potential of emerging technologies, such as blockchain, to enhance public 
trust by providing an immutable and transparent record of all government 
financial transactions. The use of blockchain ensures that all allocations, 
disbursements, procurements, and expenditures are permanently recorded, 
tamper-evident, and accessible to the public and oversight institutions in real 
time. 
SEC. 3. Definition of Terms. – As used in this Act: 
(a) Blockchain refers to a distributed and cryptographically secured digital
ledger that records transactions in a verifiable, immutable, and transparent 
manner;  


 
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(b) Blockchain-based Budget System refers to a government-managed 
blockchain ledger that records, in real-time and immutable form, all transactions 
across the budget cycle; 
 
(c) Digital Public Asset (“DPA”) refers to any budget-related record placed 
on blockchain, representing public funds as immutable and verifiable assets of 
the people;  
 
(d) National Budget refers to the General Appropriations Act (“GAA”), 
which is the law that authorizes the government to spend a specific amount of 
money for various programs and projects; 
 
(e) Smart Contract refers to self-executing code deployed on blockchain to 
enforce predefined conditions, including budget releases and compliance 
requirements; and 
 
(f) Validator Nodes refer to independent verifying entities, including 
government agencies, academic institutions, and accredited organizations, that 
maintain and secure the blockchain’s decentralization. 
 
SEC. 4. Establishment of the Blockchain-based Budget System. – The 
Department of Information and Communications Technology (“DICT”), in 
coordination with the Department of Budget and Management (“DBM”) and 
Commission of Audit (“COA”), shall establish a blockchain-based budget 
system where all records of the national budget are recorded as DPAs.  
 
All records of the national budget, from budget preparation and 
legislation to execution and audit, shall be recorded in DPAs. Smart contracts 
may automate fund releases upon the fulfillment of verifiable milestones such as 
the approval process and other documentation.  
 
A public-facing portal shall provide real-time access to DPAs, to enable 
citizens, COA, and oversight bodies to independently verify the flow of funds 
down to agencies, projects, and beneficiaries.  
 
All government financial systems, including budgeting systems, 
disbursement tools, accounting applications, and reporting software, shall be 
required to comply with blockchain interoperability standards. All data 
generated by such systems must be anchored to the blockchain as DPAs, 
ensuring immutability, traceability, and public auditability. 
 


 
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SEC. 5. Features of the Blockchain-Based Budget System. – The 
blockchain-based budget system shall, at a minimum, embody the following 
features to ensure transparency, accountability, and reliability: 
 
(a) Immutability – All transactions and entries recorded in the system 
shall be permanent and shall not be subject to alteration, deletion, or 
manipulation, thereby preserving the integrity of official budgetary data. 
 
(b) Decentralization – Validation functions shall be distributed across 
multiple independent institutions, agencies, or designated entities to prevent 
concentration of control and to strengthen institutional accountability. 
 
(c) Traceability – The system shall provide a verifiable chain of records 
that allows public funds to be tracked from their appropriation in the General 
Appropriations Act down to their utilization in specific projects, programs, or 
beneficiaries. 
 
(d) Security and Resilience – The system shall employ robust 
cryptographic safeguards, redundancy mechanisms, and disaster recovery 
protocols to ensure continuous operation and to protect all data, processes, and 
accounts against tampering, breaches, or system failures. 
 
(e) Interoperability – The system shall be designed to be compatible with, 
and adaptable to, existing and future government information systems and 
emerging technologies, thereby ensuring scalability, efficiency, and seamless 
integration across platforms. 
 
SEC. 6. Mandates of Implementing Agencies. –  
 
(a) DICT shall serve as the lead implementing agency and is hereby 
authorized to engage and contract qualified private sector partners, technology 
providers, and academic institutions for the design, development, deployment, 
and maintenance of said system, subject to government procurement laws and 
regulations. 
 
(b) DBM shall ensure the integration of the national budget process into 
the blockchain-based budget system including provision of timely and accurate 
data in coordination with DICT and other concerned agencies. 
 


 
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(c) COA shall integrate blockchain technology into its audit systems and 
processes and ensure that audit standards are aligned with blockchain-based 
recordkeeping. 
 
(d) All government agencies, bureaus, office, commissions, and 
government-owned or controlled corporations shall integrate their financial 
management systems into the blockchain-based budget system and ensure 
timely submission of budget, procurement, and expenditure reports. 
 
SEC. 7. Implementing Rules and Regulations. – Within ninety (90) days 
from the effectivity of this Act, the DICT, in coordination with DBM and COA, 
shall promulgate the necessary rules and regulations for the effective 
implementation of this Act. 
 
SEC. 8. Appropriations. – The amount of Five Hundred Million Pesos 
(₱500,000,000.00) is hereby appropriated from available funds in the National 
Treasury for the initial implementation of this Act. This shall cover the research, 
development, infrastructure setup, system integration, and capacity building 
required to transition to the blockchain-based budget system. Thereafter, such 
sums as may be necessary for its continued implementation and maintenance 
shall be included in the annual GAA. 
 
SEC. 9. Separability Clause. – If any provision of this Act is declared 
unconstitutional, the remainder thereof not otherwise affected shall remain in 
full force and effect. 
 
SEC. 10. Repealing Clause. – All laws, decrees, orders, rules, and 
regulations or parts thereof inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed or 
modified accordingly. 
 
SEC. 11. Effectivity. – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. 
 
Approved,