The Philippines launched a blockchain-based transparency system for public works and highways (DPWH) after more than 100,000 citizens moved onto the streets to protest corruption in a multi-billion-dollar flood control project.
A domestic demonstration took place last Sunday following a massive government corruption allegation in a flood infrastructure project. Protesters accused staff and contractors of pocketing funds for communities vulnerable to the country’s deadly floods.
Evidence seen by the public shows that many of the projects funded under the program are flawed and in some cases never built. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has been forced to address issues that have plagued the Philippines for decades, including blockchain systems that reveal how public funds are used.
Philippines taps blockchain technology in the public works sector
Integrity Chain, a blockchain-based accountability system developed by Bayanichain Ventures, launched on Wednesday. The platform records contracts and project progress from DPWH in a tamper-proof ledger that is out of reach of manipulators.
“We are turning government records into immutable, verifiable, openly verified digital public assets,” BayaniChain CEO and co-founder Paul Soliman told reporters. He added that if the program is adopted beyond DPWH, it will help protect the Philippines’ year. budgetwhich is almost $98 billion.
According to Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon, the corruption losses on the flood control project could exceed 1 trillion pesos if the late Ferdinand Marcos and his peers could prey on the 10 billion dollars of malicious wealth that was allegedly accumulated by his peers 40 years ago.
Soliman said the integrity chain is part of an initiative to improve the accountability of the Philippine government in the issue of public fund expenditure. He argued that blockchain systems are accountability “permanent, measurable and inevitable.”
As previously introduced by the Budget and Control Bureau, the platform is ingesting data directly from the DPWH system. They then mint each contract, announce budget releases, and track the progress of the project as a digital public asset.
Integrity chain using citizen organizations as validators
According to the network developers, the blockchain system uses an orchestration layer called Prismo, which handles data management, encryption, and verification. Runs on Polygon’s Proof-of-Stake network. This is an Ethereum-compatible scaling solution created for consensus and transparency.
Each record is chained on-chain, fastened with chains, fastened with chains before being handed over to independent barters, as confirmed by Gelo Wong, Bayani Chain’s Chief Growth Director and Co-Founder.
Validators include civic organizations, non-governmental groups, universities and media institutions, whose reviews and proofs are recorded as public records. Those keys are locked with hardware protection, rotated periodically, and distributed randomly for each review.
Wong explained that all actions by validators are recorded as their own public assets to find fraud and bias. Wong explained that the verification process occurs through one organizational one vote model.
Corruption exposed by flood incidents
Since President Marcos Jr. took office in 2022, his administration has deployed 9,855 flood control projects nationwide worth 546 billion pesos ($9.5 billion).
Many other initiatives that preceded his term were intended to help parts of the country fight typhoons and floods.
However, this year’s permanent flooding, including urban areas, is Exposure The shortcomings of the government’s response. Citizens have expressed frustration on social media and questioned how billions of public funds were used when many flood control systems failed to protect their communities.
“There is an empty tree that plagues my country. It is called “rot.” Now is the time to cut it down! I stand with my fellow countrymen,” said one disgruntled native.
Senate inquiries and witnesses in September testified that government engineers, politicians and private contractors were “skimming” funds through kickbacks from flood control contracts.
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