by Eric Montelibano · Published on BusinessMirror October 9, 2025
WHAT started as a conversation last September 30, 2025, at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) between officials of the Blockchain Council of the Philippines (BCP), the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the Department of Public Works and Highways led to the launch of the “Integrity Chain.”
The “Integrity Chain” is a blockchain-powered platform designed to embed transparency, accountability and public trust into national infrastructure projects. A Memorandum of Agreement was signed by BCP President Dr. Donald Patrick L. Lim and DPWH Secretary Vince B. Dizon, committing to digitizing and securing key data on selected national projects—such as budgets, procurement processes, and construction milestones—on an immutable blockchain ledger accessible to the public. The DICT was represented by Secretary Henry Rhoel R. Aguda.
As mentioned in the DPWH announcement on its website, the “’Integrity Chain’ aims to transform infrastructure governance by offering a real-time public dashboard that tracks project spending and progress, enabling citizen feedback and anomaly reporting, and providing tamper-proof records to deter corruption.”
In his remarks, Dizon expressed the full support of the DPWH. “By placing our foreign-assisted projects—those funded by Official Development Assistance (ODA)—on the ‘Integrity Chain,’ we welcome the scrutiny of the private sector, academe, and civil society.”
Lim, for his part, said: “For the first time, the private sector isn’t just demanding integrity—we’re building the infrastructure to deliver it.”
A historic statement of support
THE first “Integrity Chain” briefing was held on September 24, 2025, and was attended and well-received by over 40 presidents and leaders of business, academe, and civic organizations.
The response confirmed the shared belief that blockchain and AI can be powerful tools to restore transparency, accountability, and trust in public governance. This then led to the formal signing of the “Statement of Support for the Integrity Chain” during the launch on September 30, attended by more than 50 organizations at the AIM building in Makati City.
Among those who participated were major international development and lending agencies, including the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Korean Eximbank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the World Bank’s Road Transport and Country Operations. These agencies are key funders of the DPWH’s foreign-assisted flagship infrastructure projects under the “Build Better More” program and implemented by the Unified Project Management Office (UPMO) Clusters. The latter will be the first to be recorded on the “Integrity Chain.”
In his statement of support on the DPWH website, Aguda called upon the BCP: “Let’s rally behind technology, let’s rally behind doing a new way of governance in the country.”
What’s next?
FOR the pilot, the BCP will provide the DPWH with a one-year complimentary subscription to the “Integrity Chain,” including technical support, training and cybersecurity measures in full compliance with the Data Privacy Act of 2012.
Subsequent meetings will be organized to form the governance team to determine the specific role and commitment that founding organizations would like to take in advancing the “Integrity Chain,” whether as an observer, validator, technical contributor, or partner in transparency.
The Bank Marketing Association of the Philippines (BMAP) is one of the founding organizations.
Eric Montelibano is a consultant of Integrated Marketing and Communications at CSBank (Citystate Savings Bank) and the president of the Bank Marketing Association of the Philippines (BMAP). He can be reached via erichmontelibano@gmail.com. The writer’s views and his written piece do not necessarily reflect those of the BMAP and the BusinessMirror.