CADENA's blockchain edge: Pro-consumer reform

The Citizen Access and Disclosure of Expenditures for National Accountability (CADENA) Act, or Senate Bill No. 1506, was approved on third and final reading by the Philippine Senate.

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The vote was unanimous, with 17 senators voting in the affirmative, no negative votes, and no abstentions last Monday, Dec. 15, 2025.Its official title, Cutting Red Tape to Enhance National Competition Act, reflects the primary aim to protect Filipino consumers from artificially high prices, supply manipulation, and market inefficiencies. But what makes the proposed law especially forward-looking is its embrace of blockchain technology to secure transparency and accountability across the supply chain. This combination of structural reform and technological innovation offers a compelling case for swift enactment.

For decades, Filipino consumers have borne the brunt of opaque supply chains, price spikes, and bottlenecks that defy explanation. Whether the product is rice, onions, sugar, fuel, or essential medicine, the story is familiar: inventories vanish, middlemen multiply, and retail prices soar. Regulators often struggle to trace where distortions begin because records are fragmented, delayed, or vulnerable to manipulation. CADENA directly addresses this by requiring immutable, verifiable, and real-time documentation of transactions—from importation and warehousing to transport and retail.