Weatherand Luis out, Mario in

MANILA (Sept. 18/NDBC) -- After typhoon Luis battered eastern part and Northern Luzon, alow pressure area (LPA) sighted east of Visayas while Luis was heading to Chinahas intensified into a tropical depression, PAGASA said on Wednesday morning.In its 5 p.m advisory, PAGASA said the tropical depression, named Mario, was last spotted 740 kilometers east of Borongan, Eastern Samar.Mario was packing maximum winds of 45 kilometers per hour (kph). It was moving west northwest at 24 kph.While Mario comes closer to Philippine Area of Responsibility,PAGASA weather forecaster Connie Rose Dadivas said Mario still has no direct effect on any part of the country.It is also not expected to make landfall.However, the tropical depression will enhance the southwest monsoon (habagat), which in turn will bring rains over the country, Dadivas said.Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Caraga and Davao Region, including Cotabato City, Maguindanao and North Cotabato,will experience light to moderate rains and thunderstorms.Metro Manila and the rest of the country, meanwhile, will have isolated rains or thunderstorms, Dadivas said.