The House of Representatives is preparing to launch an online transparency platform that will allow the public to track government projects associated with lawmakers, as congressional leaders push for stricter verification of project documentation and geographic coordinates in the proposed 2027 national budget.
Creators Against Corruption (CAC) and civic technology initiative BetterGov.ph have formed a partnership to examine 2027 national budget proposals and produce public explainers on government spending.
The leadership of the House of Representatives has deferred consideration of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT)’s proposed budget over unresolved concerns involving Meta, the mother company of Facebook, including the platform’s handling of online child sexual abuse and other risks to young users.
Sen. Bam Aquino has questioned why the proposed Cadena Act, which would put government budget information on blockchain, was left out of the shortened list of priority measures under governance and anti-corruption reforms.
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.
