News Briefs
De Dios; 69
Angelito “Lito” Soriano de Dios, a businessman and construction development consultant, of La Vista, Quezon City, has died. He was 69. He is survived by wife Aurora “Oyie,” children Enrique, Jenina and Anjeline. His remains will lie at Sta. Maria Della Strada Parish Resurrection Chapel in La Vista, Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City, until Dec. 30, Sunday, with a daily celebration of Mass at 8 p.m. Cremation & burial will be on Monday, Dec. 31, at Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina City.
Nur graft trial to proceed
The Sandiganbayan will proceed with the trial of Moro leader Nur Misuari for graft and malversation over an alleged P77.2-million “ghost textbook” scam when he was governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. In a recent seven-page resolution, the court’s Third Division denied Misuari’s motion to dismiss the charges, saying his claim of noninvolvement were “evidentiary in nature and best threshed out in a full-blown” trial. The court also rejected Misuari’s argument that his right to speedy trial was violated because it took the Ombudsman too long to build up the case. The Ombudsman began investigating on Nov. 6, 2013, and brought the cases to court on May 22, 2017. —VINCE F. NONATO
De Lima: Remember the innocents
Sen. Leila de Lima called on Filipinos to remember and seek justice for the innocent children who have been killed in the Duterte administration’s violent campaign against illegal drugs as the country observed the Catholic Feast of the Holy Innocents. According to De Lima, children and their families should not be paying the price of the “flawed” campaign. She lamented that children who had been slain in antidrug operations were regarded as collateral damage. She likened their fate to children whose deaths are commemorated every Feast of the Holy Innocents, which was meant to remember the children killed upon orders of King Herod of Judea. —LEILA B. SALAVERRIA
HIV tests for teens lapses into law
Teenagers at risk of contacting HIV-AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus-acquired immune deficiency syndrome) may now seek testing sans the approval of their parents or guardians. This is after a measure recognizing the right of minors to voluntarily undergo HIV-AIDS testing without parental consent on specific conditions had lapsed into law.—MARLON RAMOS
