PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte would wait for the recommendation of the Department of National Defense (DND) and the National Security Adviser (NSA) before making any decision regarding the China-based mobile brand Huawei, Malacañang said on Tuesday.

Huawei was banned by the United States for security reasons.





Google also reportedly canceled Huawei’s support for android hardware and software services.

The statement of Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo came less than a month after consortium members Udenna Corp. and state-run China Telecommunications Corp. signed a $5.4-billion investment agreement to formally develop Mislatel as the third telecommunications provider in the country, with third member and Udenna unit Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corp.

In a news briefing, Panelo said it would be up to the two agencies to look into the reports.

The DND and the NSA would then give the appropriate response to Duterte, he added.

“I suppose the Department of National Defense, as well as the National Security Adviser, are studying that matter. And the President will be waiting for whatever recommendation they have on that,” Panelo said.

He added that the move of the Foreign Affairs and the Information and Communications Technology departments to raise concerns regarding the matter gave the government more reason to further study the Huawei case.

US President Donald Trump earlier declared a “national emergency,” empowering him to blacklist companies seen as “unacceptable risk[s] to the national security of the United States.”

The US Commerce department earlier announced a ban on American companies selling or transferring US technology to Huawei.

US intelligence earlier floated that Huawei was backed by the Chinese military and was being used for espionage.