Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong (front row, second from left) and BayaniChain CEO Paul Soliman (front row, second from right), joined by city officials and the BayaniChain team, sign a Memorandum of Agreement to pilot GoodGovChain, introducing blockchain-verified public records to advance open governance and accelerate the city’s digital transformation.
Baguio City is blazing a digital trail as it becomes the first local government unit (LGU) in the Philippines to pilot a blockchain-powered governance platform—teaming up with pioneering tech firm BayaniChain to launch GoodGovChain.
Spearheaded by Mayor Benjamin “Benjie” Magalong, the project aims to bring unprecedented transparency and accountability to government operations. Through GoodGovChain, the city can log budgets, procurement records, and infrastructure projects on a secure, tamper-proof digital ledger that anyone can verify.
A new standard for open, accountable governance
Built on BayaniChain’s Digital Public Asset (DPA) Framework—using Prismo Protocol and Lumen Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS)—GoodGovChain gives citizens access to verified government records through a simple public dashboard. While sensitive data remains protected, each entry is locked on a hybrid public-private blockchain, ensuring it cannot be altered or erased.
“GoodGovChain is the blueprint for verifiable governance—replicable, auditable, and tamper-evident by default,” said Paul Soliman, CEO of BayaniChain. “With Baguio City leading the way, we’re proving how transparency can be built into local governance across the Philippines and Southeast Asia.”
Fast to roll out, built to scale
Running in the cloud, GoodGovChain allows rapid deployment and scaling across multiple offices. While cloud operations come with ongoing costs, these are expected to be offset by savings on printing, storage, courier services, and audit time.
Rather than replacing existing records systems, GoodGovChain acts as a digital seal—attaching a blockchain signature to approved documents so anyone can verify a printed copy or PDF against the original. It runs on Polygon’s energy-efficient proof-of-stake (PoS) network, minimizing environmental impact while further cutting paper and transport use.
Transparency meets technology
The pilot launches as Senator Bam Aquino pushes the “Blockchain the Budget” bill, which seeks to use blockchain to track national funds from allocation to disbursement. GoodGovChain embodies that vision at the LGU level, showing how blockchain can secure public records in real time.
“One of the basic principles of good governance is transparency, and blockchain will allow us to be transparent—especially in government transactions, financial records, and infrastructure projects,” said Mayor Magalong. “This technology gives us confidence to open our data to the public without fear of tampering or hacking.”
Magalong said Baguio will encourage other mayors committed to clean governance to adopt similar systems.
A path for other LGUs to follow
GoodGovChain mirrors the hybrid architecture of the Department of Budget and Management’s own blockchain system (blockchain.dbm.gov.ph), which currently secures Special Allotment Release Orders (SAROs) and Notices of Cash Allocation (NCAs). Senator Aquino cited this model in his bill as proof that blockchain can raise accountability standards nationwide.
With Baguio City as the first adopter, GoodGovChain signals a bold new era of transparent digital governance—offering a clear path for other LGUs across the country to follow.