HEADS UP: For Sara Duterte, It's Decision Weekend (Nov. 12)

Here’s a Heads Up from reporter on news that you need to know today, Nov. 12:

2022 ELECTIONS

• While the nation is left guessing her next move, Davao City Mayor and potential presidential candidate Sara Duterte-Carpio jetted off to Balesin for the birthday of her close ally, Speaker Lord Allan Velasco.
• Duterte-Caprio resigned from her own party, Hugpong ng Pagbabago, under which she is not allowed to run for a national position.
• After reconciling with President Rodrigo Duterte, Sen. Manny Pacquiao could “surprise” voters with an announcement, according to the same congressman who said Duterte-Carpio dropped her reelection bid for Davao City mayor to run for president.
• Should Duterte-Carpio run as a substitute candidate, she should first be accepted as a member of the political party whose bet she will replace, Comelec said.
• Manila Mayor Isko Moreno said he would be “fearless in defending what is ours” while enforcing the Philippines’ victory against China before an international arbitration court.

CULTURE EXPLAINED

• That outfit check trend on TikTok is more than just flexing what people can afford to wear, especially when it's done in what Bloomberg and Nikkei labeled as the worst place to be during the pandemic.
• Here’s why “Sex Education” on Netflix is better than schools at sex education. Teens crave sex-positive information, according to research.

PIXEL WORLD

• Did you delete Bumble? The dating app just reported a decline in users for the first time since it went public in February. Analysts blame the uncertainty of the Delta lockdowns.
• Will you trust Mark Zuckerberg as the overlord of your world? That’s how it will go if he succeeds in his Metaverse push, according to an ex-employee who blew the whistle on the platform’s mishandling of privacy.
• YouTube said it would stop showing users the number of dislikes per video to discourage attacks.

ADULTING 101

• Here’s how you can apply for a postal ID, one of several government proofs of identification that are valid for important adulting transactions.

MONEY EXPLAINED

• If it’s not backed by an entire country’s gold reserves, what is the fundamental value of bitcoin?

NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW

• GCash warned users against clicking links in scam emails that ask for their mobile PINs.
• Say goodbye for good to the old ECQ-GCQ system. President Duterte approved the nationwide adoption of alert-based quarantines. There were 1,974 new COVID cases tallied yesterday.
• Ahead of the opening of its physical store in the Philippines, IKEA assured shoppers that it was working to secure enough stock.
• If you’re gadget shopping for Christmas, there might be fewer budget options compared to flagship devices as the tech world grapples with a persistent shortage in chips.
• Children are again allowed to go caroling for Christmas after a one-year break, as long as the area is under Alert level 2 or lower, the DILG said.
• Actor Alec Baldwin was sued over the fatal shooting of a film production crew with a prop gun.