[LIVE] Senate Debates Blockchain Budget Bill: Key Updates

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BitPinas is tracking the key moments, quotes, and decisions from the Senate’s second hearing on SB 1330. Refresh this page for the latest.

The Philippine Senate is set to begin its second public hearing on Senate Bill 1330, the “Blockchain the Budget Bill,” at 10:00 AM PHT.

Live Updates:

This post is being updated in real-time. The newest updates will appear at the top. Refresh the page for the latest.

Some of the resource persons include:

• USEC David Almirol, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT)
• ASEC Planas, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT)
• Franz De Leon, Department of Science and Technology (DOST)
• Jovelyn Hao, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)
• Atty. Paolo Ong, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
• Paul Soliman, BYC
• Gail Macapagal, BCP
• Jiro Reyes, Bitskwela
• Prof. Valdez, UP Center of Blockchain
• Monchito Ibrahim, Alliance of Tech Innovators
• Ann Cuisia, Kadena Foundation

The Bill’s Path Forward

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Here are the next steps for the bill in the Senate:

1. Committee Report:
   • Following the initial hearings, a formal Committee Report will be created.
   • Important: The current version of the bill is now different from the one originally discussed.
2. Period of Interpellation:
   • The bill will be brought to the Senate floor.
   • Other Senators will have the chance to formally question the bill and its provisions.
3. Period of Amendments:
   • After the questioning, Senators can propose specific changes, revisions, or amendments to the bill.
   • These proposed changes will then be debated and must be individually accepted or rejected.
4. Second and Third Readings:
   • The bill (including any approved amendments) must then pass two more formal approval stages on the Senate floor, known as the 2nd and 3rd “readings.”

Additional Factors

• The House Version: For the bill to become law, a counterpart version must also be passed by the House of Representatives. Bam noted that the House seems “interested [and] supportive” of the bill’s goals.
• Projected Timeline: The target for these major legislative movements is expected to be December 2025 or the First Quarter of 2026.

Are Vendors Pre-Selected?

Sen. @bamaquino: “Baka may napili nang vendor? Hindi po ‘yan dito. That’s up to the implementors — pero babantayan natin ‘yan, and we’ll make sure it’s transparent.

We will allow legitimate groups to bid for it. Kung may mga grupo dito na gustong tumulong, why don’t you bid for it today at zero cost.

On the debate about whether to use blockchain, our goal is simply to ensure data security. We are pushing for decentralization.

That will come in later phases, maybe within two to three years. For now, our focus is Phase 1 to make all details publicly available by next year, if we can pass this by Q1 2026.

There will be penalties if contracts are not posted within 7 to 30 days. After 30 days, failure to share data will be considered a criminal offense.

We also included a provision in the bill allowing Cadena to be integrated with the eGov app.”

Watch the Stream Here:

What you Need to Know

This hearing is the second session for Senate Bill 1330, a proposal to integrate blockchain into the national budget for transparency. Here’s the context:

• As per the previous hearing as well as the meeting of the technical working group, the debate is whether the bill should mandate blockchain, or be “technology-neutral” (allowing for other/future tech).
• This bill could unlock new government grants for web3 builders and signal a major “pro-crypto” stance from lawmakers.
• This hearing may finalize the bill’s framework before it goes to the Senate plenary for a full vote.

For a full primer on the bill, the key players, and what happened at the first hearing, read our complete backgrounder here.

This article is published on BitPinas: [LIVE] Senate Debates Blockchain Budget Bill: Key Updates

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