Marcos makes public funds tracker permanent while CADENA stays stuck in Congress

• Courtesy of PCO

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has institutionalized a government platform for tracking public funds while a separate measure seeking broader transparency in government spending remains pending in the House of Representatives.

Marcos signed Executive Order No. 126 institutionalizing the Department of Budget and Management’s Centralized Open Monitoring Platform for Appropriations and Spending Statistics or COMPASS. At the same time, the proposed Citizen Access and Disclosure of Expenditures for National Accountability or CADENA Act has yet to move in the House despite already passing the Senate.

COMPASS allows the public to monitor government funds from approval and release to obligations and actual disbursements. The order requires national government agencies, government-owned and controlled corporations and state financial institutions to regularly publish and update information through the platform.

CADENA, meanwhile, seeks to establish a digital system that would allow the public to trace appropriations, procurement, contractors, disbursements and project outcomes across the government spending cycle.

The Senate approved Senate Bill No. 1506 on third and final reading by a 17-0 vote in December 2025. The measure has yet to clear the House of Representatives.

TraXion Tech founder and CEO Ann Cuisia recently called attention to the delay, saying Filipinos should have greater access to information on how public funds are spent.

“The national budget isn’t Congress’ private wallet. Officials manage our money, they don’t own it,” Cuisia said.

Cuisia said CADENA would make government spending records searchable, structured and reusable instead of relying largely on scanned documents. Cuisia added that the measure would not automatically eliminate corruption but could create a traceable record of how public money moves.

COMPASS may also use distributed ledger technology including blockchain and may be integrated with existing government financial, procurement and monitoring systems including PhilGEPS and the eGovPH app.

CADENA also proposes the publication of budget documents, congressional amendments, procurement records, contracts, disbursements and audit reports in a format that can be accessed and searched by the public.

Senator Bam Aquino, the principal Senate proponent of CADENA, earlier questioned why the measure was not included in the government’s shortened list of priority legislation.

COMPASS and CADENA both seek to improve visibility over government spending, but they operate through different mechanisms. COMPASS was institutionalized through an executive order while CADENA seeks to establish transparency and disclosure requirements through legislation.