Philippine blockchain budget: Promising transparency or expensive hype?

DECODED: TECH PERSPECTIVE

By Alvin Veroy

The Philippine government, tired of old-school corruption and secret budgets, is proposing a big, shiny solution: using “blockchain” and “artificial intelligence (AI)” to keep tabs on government spending.

The plan is backed by a new law and a generous partnership with Polygon, a global tech company.

Sounds impressive, but let’s look closer—especially for regular citizens like us who want honest governance, not expensive magic tricks.

The big pitch: Tech will solve our problems

The Philippine Blockchain Bill promises to put all government money matters—like budgets, contracts, payments, and even big projects—on blockchain. What does that mean? Think of blockchain as a public online notebook anyone can see, but nobody can erase or change past notes. Polygon, a leading blockchain company, is helping fund the pilot run for free (at least at the start).

Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Henry Aguda claims they are also using an advanced, offline “AI robot” to smartly check budgets and contracts for signs of overspending or cheating before they get written into this notebook.

The dream: every Filipino can see how every peso is spent.

Breaking it down: How does this work?

• Blockchain Layer: Really just a super-secure online spreadsheet. Once something is written here, it’s locked in for all to see.
• AI Checker: An “air-gapped” (offline and isolated) computer program scans contracts to find mistakes, wasted money, or possible cheating. It even uses drones to check if government infrastructure projects (roads, buildings) are really being finished as claimed.
• Multi-Agency Setup: Each government agency keeps its own records, which later get combined for a full picture.

Impressive, right? But, as with any new tech, there are serious issues hiding under the shiny surface.

Why It’s Not So Simple

1. The trust problem

Blockchain is celebrated because it means “don’t trust, just check for yourself.” But the fancy AI robot deciding what to record?

That’s a black box—nobody outside government contractors knows how it works, what rules it uses, or if it’s biased.

We have to trust it blindly, which defeats the whole purpose of transparency.

2. Cost and vendor dependence

Polygon’s “free money” kickstarts things, but there’s P500 million (about USD8.6 million) set aside for just starting up.

Once built, maintaining and upgrading these systems will cost more, and government will likely have to hire the same big tech companies again and again.

It is tech vendor lock-in dressed up as innovation.

3. Harder for regular citizens

Lawyers and experts warn that most Filipinos won’t understand blockchain or complicated online records.

Instead of giving power to the people, this shiny setup could make it even harder for watchdogs and ordinary folks to catch cheating or mistakes.

True transparency requires simple, understandable tools—not fancy technology that puts up new barriers.

4. Problems blockchain can’t fix

If someone in government puts fake info—like claims a road is twice as long as it really is—into the blockchain, it’s just a permanent record of a lie.

The real challenge in fighting corruption is making sure what’s written down is *true*, not just permanent.

What Could Work Better?

Here’s what “real” transparency looks like:

• Make data public: Put government spending info online in easy-to-read formats, every day. Let regular people, journalists, and civic groups check and analyze for mistakes or cheating.
• Open source computers: If AI robots are used, let people check how they work, what data they learn from, and how decisions are made.
• Participation for all: Don’t gate keep who checks government records. Anyone should be able to look, analyze, and challenge.
• Focus on Results, Not Tools: Laws should require real-time public access and record keeping, but not dictate complicated solutions that only big firms can provide.

My take: A tool is not a cure

Big technology like blockchain and AI are “tools”, not solutions by themselves. They can make government records harder to tamper with, but they don’t fix cheating, collusion, or lies about what was actually built or paid for.

Unless the government truly opens up the process—making sure everyone can check, question, and understand what’s happening—the risk is that this becomes just another way for tech companies to cash in, while ordinary Filipinos are locked out by confusion and complexity.

Transparency doesn’t require rocket science. It requires honesty, public access, and accountability. Let’s use technology to empower ALL citizens, not just consultants and insiders.

True government transparency means every Filipino—not just experts—can check the facts and keep leaders honest.

(Alvin Veroy is a Tech innovator, open-data crusader, and believer in practical solutions. Previously, he served as Lead Blockchain/DevOps Engineer at Accenture and Lead Technology Officer at Astra Guild Ventures.)