Following the people’s peso: a blockchain innovator’s quest for fiscal transparency

At the centre of BayaniChain’s system is its Digital Public Asset (DPA) framework, which treats every government document—budgets, ordinances, procurement records—as a verifiable digital asset. Each file is minted onto the Polygon blockchain, stamped with a transaction hash and permanently recorded.

Consider how a budget release normally works: the DBM issues a Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) or a Notice of Cash Allocation (NCA). In the traditional setup, this paper trail can be difficult to follow, fragmented across offices and vulnerable to tampering. In the blockchain-backed system, every SARO and NCA is uploaded, minted and stamped with a transaction hash.

“If there’s an error, it can be amended,” Soliman explains, “but the original entry will remain on record forever. That means there’s always an audit trail.”

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The immutability of blockchain ensures that once data is recorded, it cannot be altered in secret. For auditors, researchers and even curious citizens, this creates a verifiable timeline of how government funds are allocated and disbursed.

The DBM partnership was just the start. BayaniChain extended its vision to the city level with GoodGovChain, piloted in partnership with Baguio City under Mayor Benjamin Magalong. The platform applies the same DPA framework but expands its scope: every ordinance, procurement record and infrastructure update can be minted as a verifiable digital asset.

What BayaniChain offers is not simply a web portal but an architecture built on its Lumen Blockchain-as-a-Service and Prismo Protocol, balancing transparency with privacy. Every key document is minted on Polygon, a decentralised blockchain network, creating a permanent, tamper-proof record.

On a technical level, this ensures that data cannot be altered without detection. On a civic level, it ensures that information is accessible: citizens can view transactions through the DBM portal or, for those with technical know-how, directly on Polygon’s blockchain explorer.

“The hardest part is not the code—it’s the people,” Soliman admits. “The tech has been proven for years. The challenge is making sure the government inputs accurate data, that agencies are willing to embrace transparency and that the public learns how to engage with the system.” The shift to blockchain requires cultural as well as technical change.

“Garbage in, garbage out,” Soliman warns. If incorrect information is entered into the system, it will still be preserved permanently. 

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With his technical knowledge, Soliman could have joined a global tech company, but he chose to build solutions tailored to the Philippines. “I wanted to show that Filipino innovation could lead, not just follow,” he says.

Blockchain, he stresses, is not a magic bullet against corruption. “The problem is deeper—it’s human nature,” he says. “But technology like this creates guardrails. It makes tampering visible, and that changes the culture.”

By embedding immutability into the budget process, BayaniChain’s systems don’t eliminate misconduct, but they raise the cost of it, politically, socially and reputationally. In a country long plagued by questions of accountability, that shift matters.

“As a third-world country, we need this kind of technology to fight corruption,” he says. “It’s a one-way street—we can only move forward.”

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