The House of Representatives will adopt blockchain technology and go paperless next year, Speaker Faustino “Boji” Deputy III said on Tuesday, making the House the first legislative body in Asia to use the system.
He said the digital transformation will strengthen transparency and improve public confidence in the government as the country grapples with a billion-dollar bribery scandal over rigging of flood control contracts.
“We are doing this because we believe transparency is not just an aspiration or a slogan; it must be put into practice and lived up to,” Mr Deputy said in a statement, adding that the Department of Information and Communications Technology would help set up the system.
Lawmakers are considering a national digital ledger bill to track government spending in real time, as calls for transparency grow amid a political scandal that has rocked President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. may face the biggest challenge of his six-year term.
The scandal accused several politicians, officials and private contractors of embezzling hundreds of billions of pesos from flood control projects. – Kenneth Christian L. basilio