News Briefs: November 23, 2018

Palace defends Honasan appointment to DICT

Malacañang on Thursday defended President Duterte’s appointment of Sen. Gregorio Honasan II as the new head of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the Palace “definitely” believed Honasan was qualified. Asked to comment that the law that created DICT required its top officials to have 7 years of competence and expertise, Panelo said the task of determining if Honasan had this qualification was with the Commission on Appointments. Malacañang on Thursday released the appointment paper of Honasan, which was signed by the President on Nov. 20. —CHRISTINE AVENDAÑO

‘Samuel’ exits but ‘Man-Yi’ arriving

The country will experience improved weather as Tropical Depression “Samuel” exited late on Thursday even as new typhoon has formed over the Pacific Ocean, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa). Weather specialist Raymund Ordinario said Tropical Storm “Man-Yi” still has no direct effect on any part of the country, but may enter the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) this weekend. As of 4 p.m., on Thursday morning, the center of Man-Yi was 1,525 km east of Visayas, carrying maximum sustained winds of 120 km per hour and gusts of up to 145 kph. It was moving west northwest at 45 kph. Once it enters PAR, the typhoon will be named “Tomas,” Ordinario said. —MELVIN GASCON

House OKs Filipino citizenship for Chinese trader

The House on Wednesday passed a bill granting Filipino citizenship to Chinese businessman and philanthropist Kitson Soriano Kho. Voting 170-0, the chamber approved House Bill No. 8382 bestowing on Kho full Filipino citizenship. Rep. Manuel Zubiri, coauthor of the bill granting full citizenship to Kho, said the businessman was Filipino by blood as his grandfather was from Isabela province. Kho chairs the Hong Kong-based investment holdings firm Kho Group Ltd. He has spent the last 12 years in the Philippines as businessman and philanthropist. He donated P700 million to finance the country’s biggest drug rehab center in Malaybalay, Bukidnon, which opened last August. —JEROME ANING

Doctor shot dead in Negros Oriental town

Two motorcycle-riding men shot dead a doctor in Negros Oriental just two weeks after gunmen killed a human rights lawyer in the neighboring Negros Occidental. Dr. Avelex Amor, of the Canlaon District Hospital, died from multiple gunshot wounds after he was shot around 8 a.m., along the national highway of Guihulngan town. PO3 Jordan Banderas, investigator of the Guihulngan police station, said Amor was in a vehicle on his way to Dumaguete City with a companion when he stopped along the highway in the village of Basak to urinate. But just as he finished closing the door of his car, the men on board a motorcycle stopped near the vehicle and one of them opened fire. —NESTOR P. BURGOS JR.

2 foreigners face deportation for mocking PH laws

Two foreign nationals are facing deportation following their recent arrest by Bureau of Immigration (BI) agents for illegally staying in the country. Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente issued a mission order against Indian national Vel Murugan Ayyadurai, 49, and American Peter Robert Saunders, 83, after informants tipped the bureau about their unlawful presence in the country. Morente said Ayyadurai will be deported for working without a permit while Saunders had been overstaying in the country for almost a year. Investigation showed that Ayyadurai owned and managed a cafe along San Marcelino Street, Ermita, Manila. Saunders defied the BI’s order for him to leave the country in January after the bureau cancelled his permanent visa at the request of his estranged Filipino wife. The two foreigners, Morente said, “made a mockery of our laws.” —TINA G. SANTOS