INQToday: Royina Garma, daughter arrested, detained in California – DOJ

Here’s a quick roundup of today’s top stories:

Royina Garma, daughter arrested, detained in California – DOJ

Former police official Royina Garma and her daughter, Angelica Garma Vilela, have been arrested and detained in San Francisco, California, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday.

The DOJ issued the statement after Garma reportedly left the Philippines for Washington, D.C., on November 7.

Ofel intensifies into severe tropical storm as Nika exits PAR

The state weather bureau says Ofel has intensified into a severe tropical storm, while tropical cyclone Nika has weakened and exited the Philippine area of responsibility.

Quad comm reschedules drug war probe to verify testimonies

The verification of so many testimonies from possible witnesses has led the House of Representatives’ quad committee to cancel its scheduled hearing on the Duterte administration’s war on drugs on Wednesday, panel officials said on Tuesday.

In a press briefing at the Batasang Pambansa complex, quad committee lead presiding officer and Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said that the chairpersons of the four panels have been contemplating since last week about the cancellation of the hearing.

Ex-president Duterte didn’t confirm quad comm probe attendance – Barbers

Former president Rodrigo Duterte did not confirm his attendance to the next House of Representatives’ quad committee hearing on his administration’s  war on drugs before it was cancelled, Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said on Tuesday.

According to Barbers, quad committee lead presiding officer, they would have pushed through with the hearing originally scheduled on Wednesday, November 13, if only Duterte sent a confirmation.

Meralco hikes power rates by 43¢/kWh in November

Customers of power distributor Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) may have to pay higher for their electricity bills this month due to an increase in the generation charge.

At a briefing Tuesday, the company said power rates would go up by P0.4274 per kilowatt hour (kWh), pushing the overall rate for a typical household to P11.8569 per kWh from the previous month’s P11.4295 per kWh.