Integrity portal to surveil DPWH projects ready by end of 2026

BAGUIO CITY — The “Integrity Chain” portal, that would allow civil society to keep track of public works projects and watch out for multibillion peso flood control anomalies similar to projects that are still being litigated today, should be operational by yearend or the first months of 2027, its developer said here on Wednesday (Sept. 23).

The blockchain system is currently integrating 51 non-government organizations with the good governance surveillance network, said Brandon Angelo “Gelo” Wong, who co-founded the blockchain firm BYC (Bayanichain) Ventures. 

Commissioned by the Department of Budget Management to set up a national budgeting platform that would be publicly accessible, BYC was also signed up last year to build a dedicated public portal for the Department of Public Works and Highways which has received backlash over the multibillion peso kickback  scandal and the emergence of ghost projects facilitated allegedly by legislators and DPWH insiders. 

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READ: DPWH suspends 6 officials of Baguio City District Engineering Office

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Blockchain technology has been described as a digital ledger made up of blocks of data that are  linked in a chain. The information stored can be accessed for monitoring but may not be altered nor hacked. 

In the case of the “Integrity Chain,” the full cycle of planning, financing and executing a public works project can be witnessed, analyzed and evaluated by NGOs and other groups which would be permitted access to the system, Wong told the Inquirer on Wednesday ahead of the ceremonial launch of a Baguio portal that would link residents to public data in the summer capital which BYC put up for free. 

The integration takes time because BYC needs to match the “Integrity Chain” with the digital systems used by each NGO. 

It currently provides a look into three foreign funded DPWH projects, and would link up current projects budgeted by the General Appropriations Act. “But we may backtract to projects” that were stalled or are being revived after these were investigated over fiscal anomalies or improprieties, Wong informed the Inquirer. 

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BYC has been developing a similar program for the summer capital under a memorandum of agreement between Mayor Benjamin Magalong and Wong and BYC CEO Paul Mark Soliman that began last year but was extended for two more years as of September 23.

The firm will undertake the digital recording of financial documents regarding Baguio construction and purchases, all ordinances and resolutions and other public records that would be available for “citizen viewing.” INQ