HEADS UP: Top News Stories You Need to Know Today, April 18

Here’s a Heads Up from reportr on the top news stories that you need to know today, April 18:

ELECTION NEWS

• Presidential bets Isko Moreno, Ping Lacson, and Norberto Gonzales appeared together in an Easter Sunday press conference, maintaining they won’t withdraw their candidacies.
• While he was not backing out from the race, Moreno called on Vice President Leni Robredo to withdraw to make the “supreme sacrifice.”
• As some netizens accused Moreno and the two other presidential bets of sexism, the Manila mayor responded: “This is all about character. It has nothing to do with gender.”
• Robredo’s response to the “withdrawal” call? “Chill lang.”
• Presidential candidate Manny Pacquiao said he would ask the Comelec to exempt him from the election spending ban to help victims of Tropical Storm Agaton.

TRENDING NEWS

• Star athlete Ricci Rivero trended on social media for asking actress Andrea Brillantes to be his girlfriend. But what if a woman wants to say no to a public proposal?
• Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach, who got the chance to be asked by then Cong. Leni Robredo in the Q&A portion of Binibining Pilipinas 2015, said she voted for the vice president during the overseas absentee voting in the UAE.

NEWS YOU CAN USE

• The deadline for filing the income tax return for the year 2021 is today. Here’s how you can file your ITR electronically.
• Metro Manila will remain under COVID-19 Alert Level 1 until April 30. Here’s the alert-level status of other areas for the rest of the month.
• Here’s how you can donate to the victims of Tropical Storm Agaton.

NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW

• Tropical Storm Agaton has left, but the death toll from the floods and landslides it created has reached over 140.
• President Rodrigo Duterte has vetoed the bill mandating SIM card registration over the provision that requires social media users to also register their real names.
• The DOH warned that another surge in COVID-19 cases may take place next month if Filipinos continue to ignore health protocols.
• Health workers and seniors may soon get their second COVID-19 booster shot after it was approved by the FDA.
• COVID-19 is far from becoming an endemic disease and could still trigger large epidemics around the globe, the World Health Organization said.