HEADS UP: Here's Your Guide to Life Inside the NCR Plus Bubble (March 23)

Here's a Heads Up from Reportr.World on news that you need to know today, March 23.

BUBBLE QUARANTINE EXPLAINED:

• For two weeks until Easter Sunday (April 4), Metro Manila, Bulacan, Laguna, Rizal and Cavite will be treated as a bubble called NCR Plus, with tighter rules.
• What's the difference between the GCQ Bubble, GCQ and MGCQ. Here's what we know so far. Take note that rules are evolving, somtimes on short notice.
• Here are the guidelines for public transport plus who can leave the house for essentials, according to the DOTr.
• Staycations are allowed, but with age-based restrictions -- only those aged 15 to 65 can book, according to the DOT.
• If your out of town trip falls within the bubble period, here's how you can rebook or refund your Cebu Pacific and PAL flight.
• Voter registration continues, just take note of the adjusted schedule.
• Mall hours inside the NCR Bubble were also shortened.
• Frustrated Twitter users posted jokes on "NCR Plus," underscoring how one year under quarantine has blunted Filipinos' happiness as a people. The country's ranking in the World Happiness Index fell in 2020.

CULTURE EXPLAINED:

• Change Oil Serye was a hot topic on social media, underscoring how real life stories of cheating partners resonate with Filipinos online. Here's our Reportr Explainer.

TOP STORIES:

• The government is borrowing P3.3 trillion this pandemic year. President Duterte asked Finance Sec. Carlos Dominguez to explain how public funds are spent during his weekly address to the nation last night.
• The Philippines is protesting the presence of 220 Chinese ships near a reef inside its Exclusive Economic Zone, calling it an incursion.
• St. Luke's Medical Center said its COVID wards in Quezon City and Taguig are at full capacity. The Medical City and Asian Hospital later made similar announcements.
• The city of Manila placed 15 more communities under a granular lockdown.
• Racism must stop and President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris of the U.S. are using blunt language to drive home the point.