THE Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said it supports proposals to deploy blockchain technology in preparing the budget to make the compilation of the spending plan more transparent.
“I think it’s a good move for both the Senate and the House to push for the adoption of blockchain in government… I think it’s a step forward in ensuring better governance,” Information and Communications Technology Secretary Henry Rhoel R. Aguda told the House appropriations panel on Thursday.
According to Mr. Aguda, blockchain serves as a ledger “where all transactions are written and are forever kept. It’s a technology that (deters attempts to) modify, subvert or delete information.”
He noted that blockchain experts are readily available, currently engaged in banking and regulatory compliance jobs.
The DICT is currently providing technical assistance to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) in setting up a blockchain platform for budget documents.
Asked how much is needed to implement blockchain, he said: “It might range from a couple of hundred million to maybe a billion or so, depending on the scope.”
Measures have been filed in Congress seeking to establish a government-managed blockchain ledger that records all transactions in the budget cycle.
These include Senate Bill No. 1330, filed by Senator Paolo Benigno A. Aquino IV, and House Bills No. 4075 and 4489,by Ilocos Norte Rep. Angelo Marcos Barba and Party-list Rep. Brian Daniel Poe Llamanzares, respectively.
Next year, the DICT is seeking a P18.9-billion budget, including P675.88 million for the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), P463.09 million for the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center, and P440.54 million for the National Privacy Commission.
Separately, the NTC reported that about 193 million subscriber identity module (SIM) cards have been registered as of July.
Of the total, Globe Telecom, Inc. accounted for 86.55 million, followed Smart Communications, Inc. 83.8 million, and DITO Telecommunity Corp. 23.63 million, NTC Commissioner Ella Blanca B. Lopez told the committee. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz
