IN AN APPARENT effort to promote transparency in the process of legislation, implementation and disbursement of the national budget, separate proposed bills embarking on the so-called blockchain technology were filed at the Senate and at the House of Representatives.
According to its proponents, blockchain would serve as a digital ledger designed to serve as a tamper-proof record of all transactions.
In September, Senator Bam Aquino filed Senate Bill 1330 or the proposed Philippine National Budget Blockchain Act. At the House of Representatives, Negros Occidental 3rd District Representative Javi Benitez filed House Bill 4380, a counterpart bill complementing Aquino’s proposed measure.
Both bills seek to infuse transparency and accountability through the use of blockchain technology, making it publicly available, accessible, and easy to understand as well as open for citizen engagement.
BLOCKCHAIN UP-CLOSE
Imagine a magic notebook that appears in your hand with just a snap. Anyone can read it anytime they want.
Instead of a pen, you can use a magic wand to record everything that is happening permanently. Example: Juan asked his mom for P1,000 for a school project. The notebook will keep record of this:
“Juan received P1,000 pesos from his mom for a school project.” But Juan only needs P500 pesos for the project.
“Juan spent P500 pesos for the school project” After school, Juan went to a computer shop to play using the rest of the money
“Juan went to a computer shop to play using his mom’s money.” Juan went home later, and his mom asked about the P1,000. Juan lies.
NO WAY TO FOOL MOM
Little did Juan know that his mom used the magic wand to trace the P1,000 pesos.
Juan’s mom snapped her fingers and the notebook appeared in her hand. Hence, Juan was caught red-handed.
Then Juan begged his mom not to tell his dad. But too late, his dad snapped his fingers and saw the same thing.
Now imagine that each log is a block linked together by a chain. That is blockchain.
BAM AQUINO’S VISION
Senator Aquino’s vision for his proposed Philippine National Budget Blockchain Act is synonymous to wave the magic wand on every peso in the national budget and keep a record of all transactions on the magic notebook that anyone can read in a snap.
In his proposed bill, Aquino cited the need to take advantage of three major features of the blockchain technology.
IMMUTABILITY: All data in the blockchain is permanent and cannot be altered, deleted, or manipulated.
TRANSPARENCY: No single person or group has control of the blockchain, while the software code is open to the public for evaluation.
AUDITABILITY: An easy-to-understand chain of records of all public funds from appropriations to utilization will be open for scrutiny to the public.
Bam’s Vision is to BLOCK corruption in the budget process by putting every transaction to light and to hopefully put those who dare steal in CHAINS.
HERE’S THE CATCH
But here’s the catch: implementing a foolproof blockchain on the entire budget process is easier said than done and neither is its passage into law a walk in the park.
For one, blockchain’s biggest strengths could also be its biggest weaknesses.
IMMUTABILITY means false or manipulated data entered in the first place cannot be corrected by the system.
TRANSPARENCY and AUDITABILITY mean there is a need for a strong internet connection nationwide for both the government and watchdogs.
For the longest time, crooks in the government have always managed to find their way around the blockchain so it’s paramount that the system is airtight.
The bill is still at committee level as of writing and the Senate has plenty of time to study and deliberate on the bill.
Regardless, blockchain will not solve corruption, it is merely a tool. In the end, technology is only as powerful as the people using it.