The Senate has approved on third and final reading the Citizens Access and Disclosure of Expenditures for National Accountability (CADENA) Act via a 17-0 vote, with no objection and no abstention.

Senate Bill No. 1506 seeks the establishment of a National Budget Blockchain System which will record and monitor all stages of the national budget process.

The bill, which was approved on Monday evening (December 15), was among the latest batch of priority measures listed by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC).

Sen. Paolo “Bam” Aquino IV said the measure was filed in response to the strong public outcry against corruption and the growing call for accountabiity following the flood control project anomalies.

The proposed law mandates all government agencies to upload and regularly maintain detailed budget-related documents — including contracts, project costs, bills of materials, and procurement records — on a Digital Budget Platform.

This would help ensure that all files are publicly accessible, tamper-resistant, traceable, open-source, and verifiable.

Under the bill, government officials who fail to disclose required documents or who upload fraudulent information may face administrative and criminal penalties.

Aquino urged lawmakers in the House of Representatives to fast track the passage of their version of the bill.

It was Negros Occidental 3rd District Rep. Javier Miguel Benitez who filed bill’s counterpart measure, House Bill No. 6761.

"We call on our colleagues in the House to expedite the enactment of the CADENA Act in support of our collective desire to eradicate corruption in government and ensure that the funds from the people's taxes go to the right places," Aquino said.