A Japanese businessman faces the prospect of having his business visa canceled after he assaulted the daughter of a prominent Cebu politician at the Centennial 2 passenger terminal on Wednesday morning.

Isao Tanaka, 66, is now detained at the Airport Police Department after he was charged with physical injuries by Esperanza Cristina Garcia, daughter of Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia.

The incident was seen by Exuperio Bajarias Jr., a balikbayan, who volunteered to be a witness to the incident which happened shortly after Philippine Airlines flight PR-848 arrived at the Naia Terminal 2 from Cebu at 11 a.m. yesterday.

Garcia accused Tanaka of punching her back after he got annoyed because he was unable to get close to the baggage conveyor belt, where all of the other passengers were waiting to get their luggages.

“I could not believe that you punched my back,” she told Tanaka, who replied: “If you want, you can hit me back.”

The young Garcia, a lawyer, went to see an airport policeman instead, to say that she is filing a report against the Japanese, then went to a hospital to undergo medical examination.

Doctors found out that she had a swelling on her back as a result of the punching.

According to Garcia, she was waiting for her luggage at the conveyor belt, along with other passengers, when she heard a voice from behind, telling her that she should not put her luggage trolley in front of the conveyor belt.

She turned around to see Tanaka complaining, and replied that everyone else has their baggage trolley near the carousel.

Not satisfied with her answer, Tanaka closed his fist and struck Garcia when she turned her back, making her to almost fall forward.

“How rude could you be!” she told Tanaka, who, in turn, challenged her to strike back.

Garcia told the police that she could sense that the Japanese was in a foul mood. “Bastos at napakayabang magsalita.”

“I am shocked and offended not only because of the physical pain, but the attitude of this guy who have no second thought hitting a woman. People like him should not be allowed to roam [in the country],” she said during a brief interview.

Bajarias, who arrived in the country on March 6, came forward and volunteered as an independent witness.

“I don’t know the lady, but I saw the whole incident,” he said, adding the Japanese hit Garcia without provocation.

Dads Penera, the Immigration chief of the Migrant Compliance and Monitoring Group at the airport, found out that Tanaka is a supplier of medical equipment, traveling between Manila and Cebu several times a year.

He added that Tanaka is using different names when transacting business, which could be reason enough to blacklist him and deport him to Japan.

Senate to SC: Reverse ruling on executive privilege

THE Senate on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court (SC) to reverse its March 25 ruling upholding the legality of President Arroyo’s invocation of executive privilege to prevent former National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) chairman Romulo Neri from divulging details of their conversation with regard to the aborted $329-million national broadband network project of the government with China’s ZTE Co.

MEMBERS of civil society on Tuesday condemned the President’s veto of the provision in the General Appropriation Act which suspended the payment of interest for questionable loans, including the substandard Austrian medical-waste incinerators installed in 26 public hospitals run by the Department of Health (DOH).

SIX Filipino seafarers were among the 30 crewmen who were taken hostage on board a French-registered cruise ship Le Ponant on Friday in the gulf between Somalia and Yemen, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Tuesday.

ZAMBOANGA CITY—The foreign donor community has reaffirmed support for Mindanao’s peace and development, citing the need to move the peace process and harmonize convergence of foreign aid in the region.

THE Philippine National Police (PNP) is now coordinating with the Indonesian government for the possible taking of tissue samples from the relatives of Indonesian terrorist Dulmatin to help in identifying the latter through DNA tests.

SPEAKER Prospero Nograles on Tuesday said Malacañang should give assurance it can guarantee that its request that the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) and Scarborough Shoal should be treated as a “regime of islands” and not a part of the country’s archipelagic baseline will not endanger the country’s legal claim on the disputed areas in the South China Sea.

THE Senate is poised to open a separate inquiry into the multibillion-peso swine scam involving public funds released as loans by the Quedan and Rural Credit Guarantee Corp. (Quedancor) to still-unidentified beneficiaries.

A government team led by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita will leave for Geneva on Wednesday to report administration efforts to improve the Philippines’ human-rights record before the United Nations, Malacañang said on Tuesday.

A Japanese businessman faces the prospect of having his business visa canceled after he assaulted the daughter of a prominent Cebu politician at the Centennial 2 passenger terminal on Wednesday morning.