Webcast Recap: From ‘Blockchain Bill’ to ‘CADENA’: Why Stakeholders Pushed for a Tech-Neutral Law
On November 4, 2025, a joint session by the Committee on Science and Technology and the Committee on Finance was conducted for Senate Bill No. 1330.
Alongside the hearing, its principal author, Senator Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV, announced that the bill has been rebranded to the Citizen Access and Disclosure of Expenditures for National Accountability (CADENA) Act from its older name, the Blockchain The Budget Bill, settling the “tech-neutral” debate, adding stiff penalties, and is set for a November 12, 2025, sponsorship in the Senate.
Read BitPinas’ CADENA Act-related articles here:
- Sen. Bam Aquino’s ‘Blockchain Bill’ Rebrands to ‘CADENA’: Targets 2026 Phase 1 Rollout
- Senate Debates Blockchain Budget Bill: Key Updates
- ‘We Forgot the Basics’: Bam Aquino’s CADENA Act Taps Tech to Fight Corruption
With this massive move, the BitPinas Webcast has invited Eli Rabadon, the CEO of DvCode, for a debriefing and asked for his insights about the newly rebranded bill.
Table of Contents
Live Video
Why the Original “Blockchain Bill” Faced Pushback
Rabadon, who shared that he and the other members of the BCP were invited “to do inputs” on the bill, said that though the flood control issue triggered the idea of utilizing blockchain in the government, the #CryptoPH community had different reactions regarding it.
“Pero the moment na napag-uusapan kasi natin iyong usapang batas na, kailangan kasi niya maging technology-neutral, na kung saan hindi natin pwedeng i-legislate iyong [technology]. Kaya ayan, naipalit iyong pangalan into CADENA Act.”
Translation: “But the moment when we talk about making a law, it should be tech-neutral, where you cannot legislate the technology. Thus, the bill’s name was changed to CADENA Act.”
Eli Rabadon, DvCode
One of the issues raised by Rabadon on why there was a split in opinion within the community is that there were questions about the blockchain network to be used, since initial sentiments rose that there were already vendors, or partner crypto companies, for the bill.
“Kasi, hindi ba, alam naman natin yung mga ilan sa mga nagsu-support nitong nitong Act na to ay talagang merong mga dalang mga kanya-kanyang brand, kaya parang ang lumalabas, baka mamaya parang dahil sa self-interest kaya pino-pursue.
Translation: “Admit it or not, we know that some individuals and entities from the industry that showed support for the Blockchain the Budget Bill have their own brands. This was why there were sentiments that these brands were pursuing this bill because they have their own self-interests.”
Eli Rabadon, DvCode
Another issue is about the use of a specific technology and its timeliness in a law. The BCP member explained that there were arguments that the law should not focus on utilizing blockchain technology alone, as “the tech is always changing.”
- Worth Reading: Aquino Aims for Tech-Neutral “Blockchain The Budget Bill” After Senate Public Hearing Feedback
It is because no one knows, as per Rabadon, if blockchain will still be the best technology 10 years from now. He gave a scenario that if there was a law before that legislated the use of Adobe Photoshop only, graphic artists cannot use Canva today, which offers better services.
“So, iyon iyong parang sinasabi ng mga technologists na hindi mo dapat itali sa isang technology iyong batas kasi nga dumadating iyong panahon na kailangan hindi matali iyong mismong bansa, o kung sino man na nag-i-implement doon, sa pangyayaring dahil na sa naisabatas siya.”
Translation: “Technologists argued that a law should not be tied to a single technology because a time will come that the country, or someone implementing it, should not be tied just because of a law.”
Eli Rabadon, DvCode
The Solution: A “Tech-Neutral” CADENA Act
During the hearing, AJ Montessa from the People’s Budget Coalition asked Aquino that though blockchain is the current best option for the CADENA Act, will there be other technologies available that could help reach the bill’s goals?
Rabadon expressed that he agreed with Montessa’s question to the Senator, as it was all about tech neutrality.
“Parang napakatindi nitong dilema kasi ultimo ako, na talagang pro-blockchain, for the sake of the longevity noong batas, kailangan maging tech neutral. Why not? Kasi it’s not a matter of anong technology ang gagamitin kundi paano nga natin magagawa ang transparent kung hindi natin gagamitin iyong mga available.”
Translation: “There was a big dilemma about being tech neutral, even if I am pro-blockchain. For the sake of the law’s longevity, we have to be tech neutral. Because it is not a matter of what technology should be used, but how we should use the available technology so that we can achieve the goal of being transparent.”
Eli Rabadon, DvCode
The BCP member then answered Montessa’s question, clarifying that there are technologies like Hedera’s Hashgraph and IBM’s Hyperledger, which are also decentralized distributed ledgers and work like blockchains.
UACS: A “Key Provision” for Tracking Funds
Rabadon also mentioned the use of unified account code structure (UACS), which was raised during the hearing. He explained that in layman’s terms, UACS is a way for people to know their TX ID, or something similar to a reference number, for every transaction and money movement.
“So ang nangyayari dito is itong allocation na iyon at iyong disbursement ay mayroong UACS na isang tingin mo lang at mase-search mo kaagad kung saan ba ito galing, anong nangyari, sino iyong mga involved, and things like that. So iyon iyong isa rin sa pinakamaganda na key provision doon na talagang dapat mangyari at ma-adopt sa batas.”
Translation: “The proposal is that every allocation and disbursement have UACS where the public can check and search immediately where do the transaction come from, what happened to the funds, who are the entities involved, and things like that. That is among the most beautiful key provision that should be put and adopted to the bill once it turned into law.”
Eli Rabadon, DvCode
Addressing Critics: Why Implement This Technology Now?
A question also arose from the bill’s critics: Why should the budget be put into blockchain or other similar technologies if the government is not fully digital either?
And if this bill is passed into law, the Philippines will be the first known country to use emerging technologies for the said initiative.
“Ang point ang ano ko rin naman diyan kasi the world is evolving and papaano nga tayo makakahabol kung hindi tayo gagalaw? And itong parteng ito ay kaya nating ma-speed up kahit hindi pa 100% iyong coverage ng mga bagay-bagay.
Ito lang naman kasi iyan: kailangan talagang i-require na lahat talaga ng barangay dapat may internet na, and nakikita naman natin iyong effort ng DICT na mula Batanes hanggang Jolo tina-try na talaga nilang gawan ng paraan na magkaroon talaga ng internet and we’re really hoping for the best doon.”
Translation: “My point is that the world is evolving, and if we do not take action, we will be left behind. And this initiative can speed up government transactions, even if not fully 100%.
The thing is, we really need to require all the local barangays to have their own internet connection, and we can see the effort of the DICT that they are trying to supply this need from end-to-end of the country, and we are really hoping for the best.”
Eli Rabadon, DvCode
For Rabadon, there is a need for strong political will from the leaders and discipline from citizens to achieve the goal of a transparent government.
“So kailangan nating mangyari na dapat talaga i-upload nila kung ano man na data related about sa budget at kung anong nangyayari para to make it work, kasi hindi mo kailangan magkaroon ng internet iyong buong Pilipinas hindi mo kailangan magkaroon ng computer iyong lahat ng mga barangay to make this happen, magagawan ng paraan iyan.
Kailangan nating gumawa ng paraan para ma-solve itong mga ito. At least, naipapakita natin na may pakialam tayo sa bansa natin, ‘di ba? At the end of the day, ano ba talagang gusto natin? Hindi naman pwedeng hayaan natin iyong bansa nating ganito.”
Translation: “What we need is we upload everything that is related to the national budget and what is happening to it. Because every barangay is not required to have their own internet connection and computer set to make this happen, there are ways to be transparent.
We need to take action to solve the country’s problems. At least, we can show that we love our country. At the end of the day, may we ask ourselves, what are the things we want for our country? We should not let the Philippines be like this forever.”
Eli Rabadon, DvCode
From Law to Action: A Call for Discipline
Lastly, Rabadon expressed his hopes that the bill, when turned into law, may have a solid implementation even if blockchain technology will be used or not. Because for him, there will be a good performance if the performer is good, thus, the available technology should be utilized properly.
“Kailangan nating ma-fully utilize siya at syempre magkaroon talaga ng disiplina yung mga kasama natin sa gobyerno. Kailangan natin yung ganung klaseng pangil to make it happen talaga na magkaroon ng disiplina.
Otherwise, huwag naman sana, pero baka matulog na naman yung batas tapos hindi na naman ma-implement. So we’re really hoping for the best this time na kahit yung the bare minimum nga lang noong bill is mangyari.”
Translation: “We need to fully utilize the technology alongside the discipline from the government. We need the stiff penalties written in the CADENA Act to instill discipline.
Otherwise, I am hoping that this will not happen, but the law may not be implemented and just put into sleep. We are really hoping for the best, that even just the bare minimum of the bill will be implemented once signed into law.”
Eli Rabadon, DvCode
This article is published on BitPinas: The CADENA Hearing – A Live Debrief
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