Category: Business Mirror

The Department of Migrant of Workers (DMW) expressed concern on the recent reported attack by Houthi rebels on a Dutch-flagged cargo ship, Minervagracht, after it was reported that a Filipino was among its 19 crew members.

The agency said it is currently coordinating with the ship operator, employer, manning agency, and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to verify if a Filipino was among those affected from the incident.

‘Once it is verified, DMW is prepared to give immediate assistance [to the affected Filipino seafarer],’ DMW said in Filipino in a statement issued last Tuesday.

‘We will provide further updates as soon as details are confirmed,’ it added.

It said its package of support for the affected Filipino sailor and his or her family will include medical assistance, repatriation, counselling and psychological support, and legal aid.

According to international news reports, Minervagracht was set on fire after it was attacked with an explosive by Houthi rebels.

The European Union maritime mission Aspides rescued the crew of the Dutch-flagged ship, which supposedly included a Filipino sailor, before they were transported to Djibouti.

DMW has been closely monitoring the status of ships with Filipino crew members, which pass through the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea due to Houthi attacks.

Last July, two ships-Magic Seas and Eternity C-with Filipino sailors were attacked by Houthi rebels while sailing in the said dangerous waterways.

The said incidents prompted DMW to impose stricter measures for shipowners and manning agencies, which have ships with Filipino sailors passing through the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.

‘In accordance with the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., the DMW continues to strengthen the protection and care for seafarers-especially in high-risk areas such as the Gulf of Aden,’ DMW said.

TO boost transparency, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on Tuesday has officially adopted blockchain technology in the government budgeting process.

According to DBM Undersecretary Goddes Hope Libiran, it marks a bold step toward redefining transparency, efficiency, and accountability in public financial management.

‘Blockchain is more than a buzzword-it’s a governance tool. By leveraging this technology, we can ensure that every peso is accounted for, every transaction is transparent, and every citizen can trust how public funds are managed,’ said Libiran.

Although blockchain is not the silver bullet, Libiran said it offers a game-changing response by making transactions visible and verifiable in near real time, protecting data integrity through cryptographic consensus, and streamlining workflows for faster reconciliation with fewer bureaucratic layers.

Blockchain initially gained prominence in the private sector for its applications in cryptocurrencies to supply chain tracking, Libiran said. He noted that DBM’s adoption of the technology signals one of the first large-scale government implementations in Asia. She pointed out it puts the Philippines at the forefront of technological governance innovation and may inspire neighboring countries to follow suit.

This quarter, the DBM launched a production portal that records Special Allotment Release Orders (SAROs) and Notices of Cash Allocation (NCAs) as verifiable, on-chain entries. In partnership with BayaniChain and ExakIT Services, the site is widely regarded as the country’s first blockchain-backed budget transparency platform, making records tamper-proof while allowing the public to inspect how funds are authorized and released.

‘Our mission is to equip government and businesses with the tools to keep their systems secure and reliable. By using blockchain technology combined with the capabilities of advanced AI, we not only help the DBM strengthen transparency and the security of public finance, but also show how technologies can help institutions safeguard critical processes and deliver lasting value to their stakeholders,’ said BayaniChain CEO Paul Soliman in a press statement.

The workflow starts with DBM’s Action Document Releasing System (ADRS), which issues the official budget papers. These are then secured using BayaniChain’s Lumen Blockchain-as-a-Service platform, co-developed with ExakIT.

Transparency and protecting the data will go a simultaneously as the Prismo Protocol governs what details are made public and what stays private. After approval, SAROs and NCAs are immutably written to the Polygon blockchain as NFTs, preventing any alteration or tampering-an effective defense against deepfakes and document fraud.

Documents from 2024 onward can be retrieved either by scanning the QR code on a valid SARO or NCA, or by searching manually using fields like document type, department, agency, and operating unit.

Beyond SARO and NCA

LIBIRAN said the DBM envisions a broader digital ecosystem in which the full budget lifecycle-planning, allocation, disbursement, and audit-is traceable on-chain, complemented by AI-assisted analytics to detect anomalies, forecast needs, and inform smarter fiscal policy, as well as citizen-facing dashboards that turn complex budget data into clear, understandable insights.

‘We’re not just digitizing SAROs and NCAs, we’re building a next-generation public finance system that combines blockchain transparency with Artificial Intelligence to allocate resources more effectively and uphold accountability at every level,’ said Libiran.

She added that the DBM plans to extend blockchain-powered platforms across budgeting, procurement, and monitoring, with pilot programs already underway. The ultimate vision is a trustless (decentralized), transparent, citizen-first financial ecosystem that strengthens democratic governance through technology.

With this milestone, the Philippines notwithstanding the current challenges it is facing in the national expenditure program, hopes to demonstrate that the government can evolve with the times and lead, positioning the country as a regional model for digital trust and innovation aligned with global best practices.

BayaniChain is a trusted blockchain infrastructure provider for government and enterprises. It delivers secure, transparent, and scalable systems that enable institutions to harness blockchain for real-world impact.