THE Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has teamed up with the Blockchain Council of the Philippines (BCP) to roll out ‘Integrity Chain,’ a blockchain-powered platform aimed at embedding transparency and accountability in government infrastructure spending.
The initiative, formalized through a memorandum of agreement signed on September 30, will see foreign-assisted projects of the DPWH digitized and recorded on an immutable ledger.
Key details-ranging from budgets and procurement processes to construction milestones and contractor payments-will be uploaded on the system, which will be accessible to the public.
‘From the budget process to the procurement process, to the award of the contract, to the implementation of the project, to the monitoring of the project, to the payments made to the contractors, to the acceptance of the project. Everyone should be watching now, everyone,’ said Dizon.
The Integrity Chain will feature a real-time dashboard for tracking project progress, citizen feedback, and anomaly reporting. Its tamper-proof recordkeeping is designed to deter corruption and reinforce accountability in one of the most corruption-prone agencies of government.
‘For the first time, the private sector isn’t just demanding integrity-we’re building the infrastructure to deliver it,’ said BCP President Donald Patrick Lim.
As part of the pilot, BCP will provide the DPWH with a one-year complimentary subscription, including training, technical support, and cybersecurity safeguards.
Dizon has intensified anti-corruption efforts at the DPWH in the wake of the multibillion-peso flood control scandal, which exposed how public funds were allegedly siphoned off through ghost projects and collusion between contractors and agency officials.
Since taking office, he has ordered the removal of several executives and regional officers, while initiating criminal and administrative cases against erring contractors and personnel.