The Philippines has rolled out what officials describe as a global first in public finance management, becoming the first country to record its entire national budget on blockchain technology, beginning with the 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
The House of Representatives has urged the Senate to approve a ₱1-billion allocation for the Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards (Project Noah) as part of the ongoing bicameral conference committee discussions on the proposed 2026 national budget.
Sen. Bam Aquino noted the measure represents the next stage of his earlier “Blockchain the Budget” proposal, refined to integrate advanced digital infrastructure for transparency.
The Office of the Secretary (OSEC) of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) will take the lion’s share of the agency’s proposed ₱18.9-billion budget for 2026, with ₱17.3 billion earmarked for core digital infrastructure, e-government, and cybersecurity programs.
Senators Chiz Escudero and Allan Peter Cayetano are backing the proposal to expand and strengthen the role of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), including the power to block inappropriate contents on video streaming platforms that do not fit the moral values of Filipinos.
The new Oppo A96, which Oppo dubs as a device that is "Designed to be Powerful", features 8 gigabytes (GB) of memory paired with 256GB of storage, a large capacity 5000mAh battery, and the Snapdragon 680 chip.
The Nokia G21 will also be the first G-series product to receive a 90Hz screen refresh rate and view Netflix streamed content in high definition (HD) quality.
Realme recently added a new Narzo device designed for gamers with a tight budget. The new Realme Narzo 50A improves on the Narzo 30A released earlier this year in February with newer Android and Realme UI versions, higher memory and storage, a higher quality main camera, and two new color variants: Oxygen Blue and Oxygen Green.
Sen. Franklin Drilon expressed his concern that the National Task Force to End Local Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC) has a higher budget of P30 billion compared to the DOST’s 2022 budget of P23.793 billion.
