PANews reported on June 3 that, according to BitPinas, the Philippine Commission on Elections has removed blockchain technology and a voter verification system from its 2028 election budget proposal, cutting the initial 25 billion peso budget by approximately 6 billion pesos. The Commission's chairman stated that this move followed the recommendations of the Department of Budget and Management, arguing that the removed features were not essential for the election, and that budget optimization and data privacy risks were the primary considerations. The chairman stated that the election could still proceed even without these features, and that the implementation of these systems could be considered in the future, but the current priority is to reallocate the saved funds to other government agencies.