While headlines about the misuse of trillions of pesos in flood control funds have fueled public outrage, a young teacher in southern Negros spent one weekend building something he hopes could become part of the solution: a digital platform that allows ordinary citizens to see where public money goes.
In just eight hours over a weekend in the third week of July, 25-year-old artificial intelligence (AI) engineer and Southland College instructor Japheth Gonzales of Barangay 1, Kabankalan City transformed a bout of boredom and inspired by the public’s growing demand for greater transparency in government spending into innovation.
Drawing on years of expertise in AI—a field he began studying in 2021, before it gained mainstream popularity—Gonzales developed a working prototype called K-Tracer, an AI-powered transparency portal.
“It’s not about politics,” Gonzales told Brigada News FM Kabankalan on Wednesday, August 5. “It’s about transparency and accountability. As taxpayers, we have the right to know where our money goes and whether projects are actually being implemented.”
Gonzales clarified that the current prototype uses dummy data for demonstration purposes. Even so, the platform showcases how users can monitor government projects, view their corresponding budgets, and track whether projects are ongoing, delayed, pending, or completed.
“It can help reduce doubts and misunderstandings because people can directly see how government funds are being used and where taxpayers’ money goes,” he said. “I believe it will benefit Kabankalan because it gives people easier access to information. They can see which projects are being implemented by the government and where the budget is allocated.”
“For every project, the application can display detailed information such as the budget, project items, suppliers, engineers involved, and other relevant data. It also has an AI feature that helps people quickly verify whether a project has been officially approved by the government,” Gonzales added.
The dashboard also includes a price comparison feature that shows each item’s prevailing market price alongside its awarded bid price, enabling users to identify any price variance.
Immutable data
To ensure records remain secure, he envisions integrating blockchain technology should the city government adopt the platform.
He clarified that local governments do not need to seek approval from an outside organization to use blockchain, describing it as part of the software infrastructure that can be built into the system.
“Once it’s integrated, every time an authorized LGU employee enters a new project or budget, the portal can automatically encrypt and record that information on the blockchain,” he said. “The staff won’t need to do anything differently because the system handles everything in the background.”
According to Gonzales, blockchain technology would make project records traceable and significantly reduce the risk of unauthorized editing or deletion, strengthening public trust in government data.
Although K-Tracer remains a prototype, Gonzales said he is willing to work with the city government should officials decide to explore or adopt the concept.
Kabankalons can deliver
The developer hopes the project sends a message that great innovation can also come from communities outside major cities.
“I want to prove that it’s not only big cities that can develop innovative applications. People who grew up here in Kabankalan can do it too. I also hope the government will continue supporting students because many of them have the potential to contribute to technology, especially those studying Computer Science, Computer Engineering, and related fields,” Gonzales said.
“That’s one of the reasons I became a teacher—to help students develop their skills, learn new technologies, and think beyond Kabankalan toward the international level. I want students to realize that they don’t have to leave Kabankalan to achieve great things. They can study here, learn from their teachers and mentors, and still create technologies that can make a difference,” he added.*
Reymund Titong is a Filipino journalist steadily building his voice in the field of news reporting, driven by a commitment to tell meaningful and relevant stories.
He serves as a correspondent for Rappler, contributes to Negros Daily Bulletin, and maintains a blog on Medium.