MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang defended yesterday the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) from allegations that the government owes several private contractors billions of pesos because of corruption. He said the contractors, not Andaya, should file a complaint if they think the government did something wrong. Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said the DBM expects to meet its targets in terms of budget transparency this year and further improve its OBS score for 2019. The IBP said governments have until the end of this year to take steps to improve budget transparency, participation and oversight. In 2017, the Philippines’ transparency score in the OBS was 67 points out of 100.

Source: Philippine Star February 19, 2019 00:08 UTC