Cadena Act

CONGRESS OF THE PHILIPPINES TWENTIETH CONGRESS First Regular Session SENATE S. No. 1506 PREPARED BY THE COMMITTEES ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND FINANCE WITH SENATORS AQUINO, VILLANUEVA, SOTTO, PADILLA, GO. PANGILINAN, EJERCITO. TULFO E.. ESTRADA, CAYETANO P., T SPOT B GATCHALIAN, TULFO R., MARCOLETA, AND ZUBIRI AS AUTHORS THEREOF AN ACT MANDATING THE FULL DISCLOSURE OF GOVERNMENT TRANSACTIONS THROUGH THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A DIGITAL BUDGET PORTAL TO ENHANCE TRANSPARENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY, AND PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN THE PHILIPPINE BUDGET PROCESS Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the

"CADENA Act"

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is the policy of the

State to uphold transparency, accountability, and good governance in the management and disbursement of public

1 funds. The State shall maintain honesty and integrity in 2 public service. adopt effective measures against graft and 3 corruption, and institutionalize public disclosure through open, verifiable. and citizen-accessible digital systems. To 5 this end, the government shall establish a digital platform that provides timely, accurate, tamper-resistant. interoperable, and traceable publication of government budget transactions. The system shall guarantee that all government appropriations, disbursements, procurements. and expenditures are disclosed and made publicly accessible to citizens and oversight institutions. In pursuit of a forward-looking, resilient, and future- ready governance framework, the State shall apply futures thinking and anticipatory governance in the design. implementation, and continuous enhancement of digital budget disclosure systems. This approach ensures adaptability to emerging technologies, long-term risk, evolving public needs, and potential societal impacts.

SEC. 3. Definition of terms. - As used in this Act:

(a) Budget Process refers to the entire cycle of planning, legislation, execution. and accountability through 4 which public funds are proposed, authorized. released. disbursed. and reported; (b) Citizen Access and Disclosure of Expenditures for 7 National Accountability (CADENA) refers to the digital budget portal established under this Act to serve as the official and 9 publicly accessible portal for all public budget data; (c) Cryptographic refers to the use of mathematical methods or algorithms to secure and verify digital data or transactions, ensuring their integrity and authenticity; (d) Data Embassy refers to a secure server or storage facility located outside the Philippines but placed under Philippine ownership, jurisdiction. and control, for data backup and continuity of critical fiscal systems; (e) Data Integrity refers to the accuracy, consistency, and reliability of data throughout its life-cycle. ensuring

that public fiscal information has not been altered or tampered with after its creation; (f) Data Minimization refers to the principle that only 4 the data and information necessary, relevant, and 5 proportionate to the purpose of disclosure or processing shall be collected, recorded, and published: (g) Data Sovereignty refers to the principle that all public budget data under this Act shall remain the property 9 of the Filipino people. held in trust by the State, and governed by Philippine laws on data protection, privacy, and national security: (h) Digital Budget Portal refers to a digital platform that records, organizes, and publishes government transactions and documents in an open-source, interoperable, tamper-resistant, and structured digital format: (i) Digital Signature refers to an electronic method of authentication using encryption or cryptographic algorithms that validates the identity of the sender or

author of a digital record and ensures non-repudiation of published transactions; G) Disclosure refers to the process of recording. certifying, and publishing public budget data under this Act in a manner that ensures accuracy. authenticity, time- stamping, and public accessibility in structured digital formats, for the purpose of promoting transparency, accountability. and citizen participation in governance; (k) Distributed Ledger Technology refers to a shared database architecture that records transactions across multiple nodes or locations to ensure verifiability and resistance to tampering: (l) Interoperability refers to the capability of different systems, platforms, or technologies to exchange, interpret, 15 and use information in a coordinated and secure manner, consistent with established standards: (m) Mirror Site refers to an accredited independent copy or parallel instance of the CADENA, maintained by non-government organizations. media institutions. or

universities to provide redundancy, tamper-resistant. and continuous public access to official data; (n) Open Application Programming Interface (API) refers to a publicly documented software interface that allows authorized users. systems, or developers to access, 6 retrieve, or submit data from the CADENA under defined security, privacy, and access controls: (o) Open-source refers to software or technology whose source code is publicly accessible, allowing anyone to inspect, use, modify, and distribute it: (p) Publicly Accessible refers to the state or condition in which data, records, or documents are made available to the general public through an online platform without need 14 for prior authorization, ensuring that any individual may 15 freely view, search, download, verify, and analyze such 16 information in a structured digital format: (q) Public Budget Data refers to all information, documents, datasets, and transaction records generated or 19 required to be disclosed under Section 5 of this Act, covering all

phases of the national budget cycle from preparation and legislation to execution and accountability; (r) Record and Publish refers to the process of uploading or encoding, certifying, and making public budget data available through the official disclosure platform prescribed under this Act, in accordance with the 7 timeframes, formats, and authentication standards 8 provided in the implementing rules and regulations (IRR); (s) Redundancy refers to the establishment of multiple, independent systems or data copies to ensure data preservation, reliability. and continuity of public access in case of system failure or disruption; (t) Responsible Agency and Accountable Officer refers to the government entity and designated official identified responsible for the certification. recording, and publication of specific categories of public budget data: (u) Structured Digital Format refers to a machine- readable data format that complies with open data standards, such as CSV. JSON, or XML and allows

automated processing, analysis, and interoperability among information systems; (v) Tamper-resistant refers to the property of a record or system that makes any unauthorized alteration, deletion, or manipulation of recorded data extremely difficult through technological and operational safeguards, including, but not 7 limited to, cryptographic protections, secure key management, hardware security modules, redundancy and access controls, such that any attempt at tampering would be prohibitively costly. detectable, and would leave measurable forensic evidence: and (w) Unified Accounts Code Structure (UACS) refers to the government-wide coding framework prescribed by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), in coordination with the Department of Finance (DOF) and the Commission on Audit (COA), that provides a unified and consistent classification system for budgeting. accounting. and auditing of government transactions. It serves as the standard reference for identifying the source, purpose. and

use of public funds across all phases of the national budget 2 cycle.

SEC. 4. Coverage. - This Act shall apply to all National

4 Government departments, bureaus, offices. agencies, and 5 other instrumentalities, including government-owned or- controlled corporations (GOCCs), and their subsidiaries. The Act shall likewise apply to all projects and programs funded through public-private partnerships (PPPs) or foreign-assisted programs insofar as they utilize, disburse. or account for public funds through national government agencies or mechanisms. Local government units (LGUs) are not covered by this Act but are encouraged to adopt similar mechanisms consistent with the principles and standards established under strengthen fiscal this Act, to transparency. participatory governance. and public accountability at the local level.

SEC. 5. Disclosure of Public Budget Data. - All

National Government entities are hereby mandated to

record and publish in the CADENA the data and 2 information found in every document relating to the 3 national government budget process to facilitate public 4 scrutiny and ensure transparency in budget planning and preparation, budget legislation and authorization, budget execution and fund management, procurement process and revenue collection and contract management. and generation. For this purpose, the data from the following documents and such other documents as may be determined 10 by the National Budget Transparency and Accountability Council (NBTAC) shall be disclosed and published in accordance with this Act: Type of Document Responsible Agency (a) Budget Preparation Documents (1) Budget Call Department of Budget and Management (DBM) (2) All versions of Budget Concerned line agencies, Preparation Forms submitted consolidated by DBM by agencies through the Online Submission of Budget Proposal (OSBP) Portal

(3) National Expenditure DBM Program (NEP) (4) Budget of Expenditures and DBM Sources of Financing (BESF) (5) President's Budget Message DBM / Office of the President (b) Budget Legislation Documents (1) General Appropriations Bill House of Representatives (GAB) versions (HOR) and Senate of the Philippines (Senate) (2) Committee Reports HOR and Senate (3) Individual. Committee, and HOR and Senate Bicameral Amendments with identified proponents (4) Bicameral Conference HOR and Senate Committee Report DBM / Office of the (5) President's Veto Message President (6) General Appropriations Act DBM (GAA) (c) Budget Execution and Fund Release Documents Concerned agencies (1) Agency-level Budget Execution Documents DBM (2) National Budget Circular (NBC) with Agency Budget Matrix (ABM)

(3) Allotment Release Orders DBM (SAROs) (4) Notices of Cash Allocation DBM (NCAs) (5) Other Fund Release DBM/Bureau of Treasury Documents (including Cash (BTr) Disbursement Ceilings (COCs). Multi-Year Contractual Authority (MYCA). and other similar issuances) Concerned agencies (6) Fund Release Receipts (7) Registry of Allotments. Concerned agencies Obligations, and Disbursements (RAOD) (8) Disbursement Vouchers Concerned agencies (9) Fund Utilization Reports Concerned agencies/DBM (d) Infrastructure and Procurement-Related Documents (1) Program of Works Procuring entities (2) Bill of Quantities Procuring entities (3) Detailed Unit Price Analysis Procuring entities (4) Bid Announcements and Procuring entities Invitations to Bid (5) Request for Expressions of Procuring entities Interest (6) Technical and Financial Procuring entities Evaluation 2T (7) Abstract of Bids Procuring entities

(8) Project eligibility documents, Procuring entities including beneficial ownership disclosures, certifications of good standing, permits, and clearances (9) Notices of Award and Procuring entities Notices to Proceed (10) Contracts and Purchase Procuring entities Orders (11) Performance and Warranty Procuring entities Security Documents (12) Advanced Procuring entities Payment/Mobilization Fee Receipt (13) Milestone Billings and Procuring entities Progress Billings (14) Inspection and Acceptance Procuring entities Reports (15) Delivery Receipts Procuring entities (16) Disbursement Vouchers Procuring entities and Completion Certificates (17) Other related documents As prescribed in the IRR pursuant to Republic Act No. 12009 or the New Government Procurement Act (e) Budget Accountability Documents

(1) Agency Performance Review DBM/Concerned agencies Reports and Budget and Financial Accountability Forms (BFARs) (2) Agency Financial Statements Concerned agencies/ COA (3) COA Annual Audit Reports COA (4) Audit Observation COA Memorandums (5) Agency Action Plan and Concerned agencies/ COA Status of Implementation (AAPSI) (6) Statement of Appropriations, Concerned agencies Allotments, Obligations, and Disbursements and Balances (SAAODB) (7) All Civil Service Commission Concerned agency (CSC) - DBM - COA Circulars CSC/DBM/COA (8) Records of oversight Congress/COA/ hearings. performance audits. Concerned agencies and corrective action reports The NBTAC may determine additional documents for which other public budget data should be disclosed under this Act. without prejudice to other disclosures necessary to

promote transparency, and citizen accountability, participation in the budget process. Data and information required to be disclosed under 4 this section, as derived from the documents enumerated 5 herein. shall hereafter be referred to as "Public Budget Data". All Public Budget Data shall be digitally certified 7 and presented in a structured digital format, in accordance with the standards to be prescribed by the NBTAC, ensuring 9 that every allocation, transaction, or transfer is easily searchable. traceable, and analyzable by the public. For each type of listed document, the IRR shall clearly identify the responsible agency or office, as well as the designated accountable officer. for the disclosure of public budget data under this Act. For procurement-related documents under subsection(d), the designated accountable officer shall be the Head of the Procuring Entity (HoPE). All required public budget data in the listed documents shall be disclosed by the designated accountable officer within seven (7) working days from the date of approval.

official issuance, receipt of the concerned agency, 2 completion, or generation of the document, whichever is 3 applicable. All corrections or updates shall be versioned in a 4 manner that retains previous entries to ensure data 5 traceability, auditability, and accountability. Disclosures shall include linkage identifiers or 7 references sufficient to trace each appropriation. obligation. 8 and disbursement to the corresponding final payee, contractor, or beneficiary program. using the Unified 10 Accounts Code Structure (UACS) and other interoperable tagging standards. Beyond document publication, agencies shall ensure that budget-cycle datasets are interlinked and reconcilable. allowing citizens to trace the full flow of funds from authorization to actual expenditure and results achieved. The disclosure requirement under this Act shall not apply to specific data fields within documents whose publication would compromise national defense or security. or violate the Republic Act No. 10173 or the Data Privacy

1 Act of 2012, as determined by the NBTAC in consultation 2 with the National Privacy Commission and other 3 appropriate agencies: Provided, That the provisions of 4 Republic Act No. 10173. shall not be invoked to restrict or 5 delay the disclosure of public budget data, as public 6 expenditure, contract. and supplier information shall not be deemed personal data. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to diminish. restrict, or otherwise limit existing transparency and disclosure obligations under other laws, rules, and regulations.

SEC. 6. Data Quality Standards. - The NBTAC shall

determine data quality. formatting. and metadata standards for the CADENA to ensure completeness. consistency. searchability, and interoperability across agencies, enabling cross-referencing through standard coding systems such as the UACS. The IRR shall ensure that the CADENA aligns with the standards of existing transparency systems of the DBM.

COA, and other agencies toward a unified, interoperable, and open public financial data framework. SEC. T. Establishment of the CADENA. - The CADENA shall serve as the official and publicly accessible portal for all public budget data required under this Act. The CADENA shall be the primary access point through which the public may freely access. search. and download public budget data in open-source, interoperable, tamper-resistant. and structured digital format. It shall provide features that promote transparency. accountability. and citizen participation. subject to tiered-access controls to protect personal data and national security information. The CADENA shall be developed using distributed ledger technology including. but not limited to, blockchain. secure data integrity technology. or other technology that conforms with the standards and features prescribed under 17 Section 8 of this Act. The NBTAC shall, at intervals of not more than three (3) vears. review and recommend the adoption of alternative or emerging technologies.

The CADENA shall interface with existing government systems including, but not limited to. the 3 Integrated Financial Management Information System 4 (IFMIS). Budget and Treasury Management System 5 (BTMS), Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS). and other platforms through standardized Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) or newer technologies. These systems shall maintain parallel 9 operation during transition periods as specified by the NBTAC.

SEC. 8. Core Features of the CADENA. - The CADENA

shall be designed to promote transparency and accountability in all phases of the national budget cycle. It shall, at a minimum, have the following features: (a) Data Integrity and Authenticity - All published records shall bear digital and non-repudiable signatures, timestamps, and metadata ensuring verifiable origin and traceability.

(b) Transparency and Accessibility - All budget records and reports shall be made available through public 3 dashboards and open APIs in structured digital formats for real-time access, visualization, and reuse, subject to tiered access controls to protect personal data and privileged 6 information. (c) Redundancy and Oversight - Independent mirror sites, hosted by qualified and accredited institutions, 9 including government agencies, the private sector, civil society, and the academe, and other third-party audit mechanisms shall be established to safeguard against data loss, tampering, and concentration of control and strengthen mutual oversight and institutional accountability. (d) Traceability Across the Budget Cycle - The system shall maintain a structured audit trail linking each stage of the budget process from call and approval to release, procurement, and liquidation, identifying the responsible committee or agency at each decision point. while observing data minimization and purpose limitation under applicable

privacy laws. The CADENA shall display all budget records without alteration and shall ensure that all documents, 3 dashboards, public data sets. and APIs reflect the complete 4 national budget cycle. (e) Programmability and Process Validation - The 6 CADENA may employ rule-based or automated validation 7 tools to ensure compliance with budgetary laws, detect irregularities. and flag inconsistencies for oversight review, without substituting or interfering with lawful approval procedures. (f) Security and Resilience - The system shall employ encryption. redundancy, access controls. and disaster recovery protocols that comply with international cybersecurity standards. (g) Interoperability and Open Standards - The CADENA shall adopt open-source, technology-neutral frameworks and ensure compatibility with existing and systems. It shall be future government information designed for integration with other fully secured national

to digital platforms allow seamless data exchange. 2 interoperability, and unified public access. The CADENA shall likewise be accessible to the general public through its own portal and/or other government portals to promote ease of use, transparency, and citizen engagement. (h) Auditability - The system shall maintain verifiable activity logs accessible to the COA and other public auditors and civil society organizations duly authorized by the NBTAC for post-factum review, without exposing personal or security-sensitive information on public endpoints. (i) Citizen Feedback and Participation - The CADENA shall include real-time channels for citizens and civil society organizations to report. track, and receive acknowledgment of verified discrepancies or irregularities in published data. Each report shall be logged, traceable. and subject to timely resolution by the concerned agency. (i) Scalability and Performance - The system shall be designed to handle high transaction volumes, ensure continuity of operations during peak usage. and include

to forward-looking capacity planning sufficient accommodate at least ten (10) years of projected data growth and system demand. (k) Outcome-based Metrics - The system shall include performance dashboards linking budget disbursements to outputs and outcomes, allowing public tracking of agency performance and corrective actions.

SEC. 9. Data Sovereignty and Custodianship. - All

fiscal data collected and processed under this Act are property of the Filipino people, held in trust by the State. The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) shall serve as primary data custodian, responsible for ensuring lawful access. integrity and long- term preservation of such data. The exercise of data sovereignty shall be understood as the State's control and lawful access over public data and verifiable systems consistent with through secure Philippine jurisdiction and regulatory standards.

All hosting and data infrastructure utilized under this Act shall remain under the lawful control, access, and regulatory supervision of the Philippine Government, in with data governance. 4 accordance the applicable cybersecurity, and privacy regulations of DICT and the National Privacy Commission (NPC): Provided, That the 7 State, in coordination with the country having jurisdiction over the data center infrastructure, may establish or 9 designate a Data Embassy during the pilot or initial 10 implementation phases: Provided, further, That full 11 domestic hosting shall be achieved upon nationwide 12 implementation. This provision affirms that Philippine data 14 sovereignty is a non-delegable national function, and that any extraterritorial hosting shall be treated strictly as a contingency measure in support. not in lieu of, local infrastructure self-sufficiency. developers. and service All third-party providers. contractors engaged in the design, operation or maintenance

of the CADENA or any component digital system supporting 2 government transactions shall be deemed entities imbued 3 with public interest and must comply with the governance 4 standards set by the Securities and Exchange Commission 5 in accordance with Republic Act No. 11232, or the "Revised 6 Corporation Code of the Philippines*

SEC. 10. National Budget

Transparency and Accountability Council. - There is hereby created a NBTAC to oversee the implementation. audit, and continuous improvement of the CADENA and related mechanisms under this Act. The NBTAC shall be composed of: (a) The Secretary of the DICT, Co-chairperson: (b) The Secretary of the DBM, Co-chairperson; (c) The Chairperson of the COA, Member: (d) The Secretary of the Department of Justice (DOJ), Member: (e) The Secretary of the DOF. Member; and

(f) Four (4) citizen representatives. to be appointed by 2 the President upon joint recommendation of the DICT and 3 DBM, through an open and transparent selection process, representing the following: (1) Civil society organizations engaged in budget transparency, fiscal openness. or participatory governance: (2) Academic or research institutions with expertise in public finance, data analytics, or digital governance; (3) The media, particularly those with a track record in investigative journalism, data reporting. or governance advocacy: and (4) The business and technology sector. The citizen members shall serve for a term of three (3) years. and may be reappointed for one (1) additional term. The NBTAC shall meet at least once every quarter or as often as necessary to effectively discharge its functions under this Act. All regular and special meetings shall be conducted in a transparent and publicly accessible manner. subject to the provisions of this Act and applicable laws.

A dedicated Program Management Office (PMO) for 2 CADENA implementation shall be established under DICT, adequately staffed with technical, procurement, change management, and project management specialists. It shall also serve as the secretariat for the NBTAC.

SEC. 11. Functions of the NBTAC. - It shall:

(a) Formulate and approve policies, data standards, interoperability protocols, and governance guidelines for the CADENA: (b) Oversee the IRR of this Act: (c) Oversee compliance and performance audits of the system and its accredited independent mirror sites: (d) Ensure that all transparency mechanisms remain open-source, secure, and citizen-accessible; (e) Issue periodic reports to Congress and the 16 President on the state of budget transparency and 17 recommend improvements:

(f) Monitor and evaluate the compliance of agencies covered under Section 5 of this Act, and issue notices of and warning to an erring and/or 3 non-compliance noncomplying public official or employee: (g) Initiate investigation, motu propio or upon receipt of a complaint, and refer the same to the CSC or the Office of the Ombudsman, or file cases for violations of this Act; (h) Engage relevant stakeholders in consultative and advisory capacities. when necessary. without expanding the formal membership of the NBTAC; (i) Ensure that all regular and special meetings of the NBTAC are publicly accessible through live streaming and archiving via recognized streaming platforms or when government broadcasting channels. except discussions involve matters of national security or personal data protection, in which case minutes shall still 17 be published in summary form within seven (7) working days; and

0) Perform such other functions necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act. - The SEC. 12. Implementation Timeline. 4 establishment and operationalization of CADENA shall be in phases, ensuring that transparency mechanisms are rolled out in a manner consistent with agency readiness. 7 data integrity, and fiscal process priorities, as follows: (a) Phase 1 - Immediate Disclosure through Agency 9 Websites. Within nine (9) months from the effectivity of this Act. all National Government departments, bureaus, offices. agencies. and instrumentalities shall record and publish in their respective official websites all public documents referred to under Section 5 of this Act: Provided, That during this phase, the publication requirement for Infrastructure and Procurement-Related Documents under

Section 5(d) shall apply only to projects or contracts with an

approved cost exceeding Two million pesos (P2,000.000). All published documents shall be in digitally structured format, searchable. and officially certified. All

agency disclosure systems shall adopt interoperable formats 2 to facilitate continuity and integration. (b) Phase 2 - Integration with Top Spending Agencies. 4 Within twenty-four (24) months from the effectivity of this 5 Act. the CADENA shall be deployed and fully integrated 6 with the financial management, accounting, and 7 procurement systems of top-spending agencies identified by 8 the NBTAC, including. but not limited to, the Department 9 of Education (DepEd), the Department of Public Works and 10 Highways (DPWH). Department of Health (DOH). 11 Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG). 12 and the Department of Transportation (DOTr). During this phase, these agencies shall record and 14 publish all documents enumerated under Section 5 in open- 15 source, interoperable, tamper-resistant, and in structured all Infrastructure and 16 digital format, including 17 Procurement-Related Documents under Section 5(d). regardless of project cost, through the CADENA.

The DICT, in coordination with the National Privacy 2 Commission (NPC). shall ensure that privacy-impact assessments. cybersecurity protocols. and 4 data-classification standards are in place prior to full 5 deployment of the CADENA within these agencies. (c) Phase 3 - Full Government-Wide Implementation. Within three (3) years from the effectivity of this Act, the 8 CADENA shall be expanded to cover all other national government agencies, GOCCs. and their subsidiaries. All 10 National Government departments, agencies, GOCCs. and other covered entities shall fully comply with the disclosure requirements under Section 5, through CADENA, including the disclosure of all Infrastructure and Procurement- 14 Related Documents under Section 5(d) of this Act for all projects, regardless of amount or classification. Nothing in this section shall preclude any department, agency, or GOCC from complying with the requirements of this Act ahead of schedule or from undertaking parallel implementation of succeeding phases.

SEC. 13. Capacity-Building and Technical Support. -

2 During the initial implementation period. the DICT shall 3 provide capacity-building programs, systems integration assistance, and technical support to ensure the readiness of 5 all covered entities for full adoption of the CADENA. DICT, DBM. and DILG may provide technical assistance, shared hosting infrastructure. and training to 8 LGUs that voluntarily adopt the CADENA or develop similar systems.

SEC. 14. Progress Reports. - The DICT shall submit to

the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee (JCOC) a written progress report within sixty (60) working days after the conclusion of each implementation phase of this Act. The report shall include, at a minimum, the following: (a) Agency Compliance Levels - The percentage of required documents and structured digital records disclosed by covered entities within prescribed timelines: (b) System Performance - Metrics on the CADENA uptime, posting speed, interoperability. and cybersecurity

safeguards, including results of independent audits conducted under this Act; (c) Citizen Access and Participation - Data on unique users. frequency of public access, number of downloads. citizen feedback submissions, and government response actions; (d) Governance and Oversight Metrics - Reports on NBTAC activities. meetings. and decisions relating to 9 budget transparency, data integrity. and open-source collaboration: (e) Challenges Encountered - Technical, institutional. budgetary, or legal barriers to compliance, and recommended solutions: and (f) Recommendations - Proposed measures to strengthen transparency. accountability, data security. and citizen engagement. All progress reports and accompanying datasets shall be published in open. structured digital formats through the CADENA, mirrored by accredited independent institutions

and civil-society partners for public verification and long- term archival.

SEC. 15. Evidentiary Value of CADENA Records. - All

4 records. data, and transactions stored in CADENA shall be considered prima facie evidence of the facts stated therein and shall be admissible in all judicial. quasi-judicial, and administrative proceedings: Provided, That the record: (a) Bears a digital timestamp: (b) Is cryptographically signed or verified through the digital portal: and (c) Has not been altered without authorization. as verified by CADENA's integrity controls.

SEC. 16. Administrative Penalties. - Any public official

or employee who performs or causes the performance of the following acts shall be liable: (a) Failure to disclose the required public budget data within seven (7) working days from the date of approval. or official issuance, receipt by the concerned agency.

completion or generation of the document or work, 2 whichever is applicable; and (b) Issuance, approval. or implementation of policies, 4 rules and regulations that are manifestly contrary or intended to circumvent the provisions of this Act. or 6 obstructs or interferes with the publication, audit, or verification of information under CADENA. Any violation of the preceding actions shall warrant the following penalties and liabilities: (a) First Offense. Administrative penalty of reprimand or up to six (6) months suspension from the service. (b) Second offense. Administrative penalty of dismissal from the service and perpetual disqualification from holding office. In cases where no specific officer, employee, or unit is designated as responsible for the submission, publication, or safekeeping of documents required under this Act, the HoPE shall be presumed responsible and held administratively liable under applicable laws.

Non-compliance detected through • CADENA shall trigger automatic referral to the CSC and the Ombudsman. 3 Quarterly compliance dashboards shall be publicly displayed

SEC. 17. Penal Provisions. -

(a) Any public official. employee, private individual or 7 entity who commits any of the following shall be liable: (1) Fails to upload, disclose, or publish the required 9 public budget data within thirty (30) working days. without 10 justifiable cause, from the date of approval, official issuance. 11 receipt by the concerned agency, or completion or generation of the document or work. whichever is applicable: false, or misleading (2) Knowingly publishes 14 information to simulate compliance with this Act: or 15 (3) Willfully denies. conceals the existence of, or destroys or causes to be destroyed, information and/or any document mandated for disclosure under this Act. Any violation of the preceding actions shall be meted 19 out with the penalty of imprisonment ranging from six (6)

1 years and one (1) day to not more than fifteen (15) years and 2 a fine of up to Three million pesos (P3,000,000). (b) If such act was committed to conceal or facilitate 4 fraud, graft, or corruption involving public funds or 5 property, the public officer or employee shall be liable as a 6 principal or co-conspirator to crimes punishable under 7 Republic Act No. 3019 or the "Anti-Graft and Corrupt 8 Practices Act" and Republic Act No. 7080 or the 9 "Anti-Plunder Act": and (c) Any private individual or entity who knowingly induces or causes the commission of the foregoing acts shall 12 be liable as principal by inducement in the prosecution of public officials or employees under this section. Criminal liability shall also be incurred through bribery, extortion, or malicious and deliberate solicitation of favors in cash or in kind. In such cases, the pertinent 17 provisions of the Revised Penal Code and other special laws shall apply.

SEC. 18. Administrative •Jurisdiction. The 2 administrative jurisdiction on any violation of the provisions of this Act shall be vested in either the CSC, or 4 the Office of the Ombudsman as determined by appropriate laws and issuances.

SEC. 19. Civil and Criminal Liability, Not Barred. -

7 The finding of administrative liability under this Act shall 8 not be a bar to the filing of criminal, civil. or other related charges under existing laws arising from the same act or omission as herein enumerated.

SEC. 20. Implementing Rules and Regulations. -

Within sixty (60) days from the effectivity of this Act, the DICT. in coordination with the DBM, COA. DO.J, and other concerned agencies, shall promulgate the necessary rules and regulations for the effective implementation of this Act. The formulation of the IRR shall be undertaken in consultation with representatives from civil society organizations, the academe. media. and relevant industry stakeholders.

SEC. 21. Joint Congressional Oversight Committee. -

2 The JCOC is hereby constituted, to 3 be composed of eight (8) members with the Chairpersons of 4 the Committee on Science and Technology of the Senate and 5 Committee on Information and Communications 6 Technology of the House of Representatives as Co- Chairpersons: Chairpersons of the Committee on Finance of the Senate and Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives as members; and two (2) members from each House to be designated by the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, respectively. The JCOC shall monitor the effective implementation of this Act, recommend the necessary remedial or administrative measures, and perform such other duties and functions as may be necessary to attain the objectives 16 of this Act.

SEC. 22. Appropriations. - To guarantee the

18 implementation of the provisions of this Act, a line item for 19 digital-governance and transparency programs shall be

included in the general appropriations of the Department of 2 Information and Communications Technology. Subsequent 3 funding requirements shall be included in the annual 4 General Appropriations Act.

SEc. 23. Separability Clause. - If any provision of this

Act is declared unconstitutional, the remainder shall 7 remain in full force and effect.

SEC. 24. Repealing Clause. - All laws, orders, and

regulations inconsistent herewith are repealed or modified accordingly.

SEC. 25. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect after

fifteen (15) days following its publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. Approved,