Senate OKs CADENA Act on third and final reading

The Senate has approved on third and final reading a measure that seeks to mandate the disclosure of budget-related documents of government agencies on a digital platform.  

With a 17-0 vote, the Senate passed Senate Bill No. 1506 or the Citizen Access and Disclosure of Expenditures for National Accountability (CADENA) Act on Monday.

“If you look at this transparency measure, kung hindi nangyayari iyong nangyayari ngayon na investigation, palagay ko walang chance iyan,” Senator Bam Aquino said in a statement, referring to the investigation on anomalous flood control projects.

(If you look at this transparency measure, if the investigation now is not taking place, I think it would have no chance.)

“Pero dahil iyong taumbayan nakatutok dito ngayon na may mangyaring pagbabago sa mga sistema na nagdulot ng ganitong klaseng corruption, may tsansa iyang mapasa,” he added.

(But because the people are now focused on this and want changes to happen in the system that caused this kind of corruption, there is a chance it will be passed.)

According to Aquino, CADENA mandates all agencies to upload and regularly maintain detailed budget-related documents, including contracts, project costs, bills of materials, and procurement records.

Officials who fail to disclose the required documents or who upload fraudulent information may face administrative and criminal penalties.

Aquino’s camp said that the approval came after the bill was included among the list of priority measures.

Meanwhile, House Bill No. 6761, its counterpart measure, was filed by Negros Occidental 3rd District Representative Javier Miguel Benitez.

"Nananawagan tayo sa ating mga kasama sa Kamara na madaliin ang pagsasabatas ng CADENA Act bilang suporta sa sama-sama nating hangarin nating burahin ang katiwalian sa pamahalaan at matiyak na napupunta sa sa tama ang pondo mula sa buwis ng taumbayan," Aquino said.

(We are calling on our colleagues in the House to fast-track the passage of the CADENA Act in support of our shared goal to eradicate corruption in government and ensure that funds from the people’s taxes go to their proper use.) —Joahna Lei Casilao/AOL, GMA Integrated News