Thomas Daniels
The Philippines deploys blockchain-based validation system on Polygon even as network experienced a consensus-layer outage
The Philippine government has launched a blockchain-powered validation system using Polygon, coinciding with a temporary outage in Polygon’s Heimdall V2 consensus layer on the same day. Undersecretary Maria Francesca Montes Del Rosario of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) announced via Facebook that the platform is now operational, aiming to enhance public finance transparency.
The system allows for the notarization of government-issued budget documents—including Special Allotment Release Orders (SAROs) and Notices of Cash Allocation (NCAs). A cryptographic hash representing each document is inscribed on the Polygon blockchain, creating an immutable audit trail accessible via QR code or through the DBM’s dedicated portal. Del Rosario emphasized the platform’s importance in countering deepfake threats and preventing fraudulent document reproduction.
Paul Soliman, CEO of Bayanichain—the tech firm behind the deployment—described the initiative as a milestone in public-sector transparency. The DBM’s Action Document Releasing System (ADRS) is integrated with Bayanichain’s Lumen BaaS and Prismo protocol, enabling selective blockchain inscription while preserving confidential information.
Timing and technical challenges: Polygon suffers outage on debut day
On July 30, 2025, around 09:30 UTC, Polygon’s Heimdall V2 consensus client experienced a temporary outage triggered by an unexpected validator exit. While consensus delays occurred, the Bor layer—responsible for block production—remained operational. This prevented a full halt in network activity.
Despite uninterrupted block production, disruptions to RPC services led to issues with front-end tools such as block explorers, which failed to reflect real-time network activity immediately after Heimdall’s recovery. The issue, resolved within six hours, followed Polygon’s early July upgrade integrating CometBFT and Cosmos-SDK v0.50, which reduced block finality times significantly.
