HEADS UP: Why #NasaanAngPangulo Matters During Calamities (Dec. 23)

Here’s a Heads Up from reportr on news you need to know today, Dec. 23:

POLITICS EXPLAINED

• Politicians in the Philippines are both pilloried and praised for stepping on ground zero of calamities. We examine tricky disaster politics with the elections just a few months away.

ELECTION NEWS

• Presidential aspirant Bongbong Marcos and running mate Sara Duterte-Carpio are leading in the first survey since the filing of candidacies last October.

ENVIRONMENT

• For the first time in 34 years, conservationists found traces of the Tamaraw in one of their known Mindoro habitats in the form of hoof marks and dung. It’s a milestone achievement in the lonely and cash-strapped fight to save the gentle beats.

TYPHOON ODETTE

• Here are the areas under a State of Calamity due to Typhoon Odette.
• On the ground, storm survivors arein dire need of food and water.
• The rapid intensification of Odette into a Signal no. 4 typhoon before it hit land “exceeded all expectations”, PAGASA said.
• There’s a 60-70% chance that the low pressure area tracking Mindanao could develop into a tropical depression. It is forecast to enter the Philippine Area of responsibility after Christmas.
• Government is better of spending the unused budget of the anti-communist NTF-ELCAC to fund relief operations in the wake of Typhoon Odette, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered his sympathies to President Rodrigo Duterte over the devastation wrought by Typhoon Odette (Rai).

NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW

• The waiting time for booster shots in the Philippines has been halved to three months for two-dose vaccines to help in the fight against the Omicron variant. There were 261 new cases yesterday.
• Sen. Imee Marcos said she was “surprised” that her family had gone “back in style” as she repeated her call for the nation to move on from the dark Marcos years.
• Singapore will freeze all ticket sales for quarantine-free travel from Dec. 23 to Jan. 20 to buy time for a strategy against the Omicron variant.
• Israel has rolled out fourth dose COVID vaccines to medics and people over 60 to curb the spread of the Omicron variant.
• The WHO has cleared the COVID vaccine of Novavax for emergency use, paving the way for a worldwide rollout.
• Bottlenecks in the supply chain of potatoes from the U.S. have forced McDonald’s to suspend the sale of large and medium fries in Japan for a week from tomorrow.
• Beyonce and Ariana Grande are in the running for the Best Original Song Oscar, with Queen Bey also up against husband Jay-Z.
• Microplastics have been found in supposedly clean mountain air, according to a French study that highlighted how high up waste can go.
• Scientists have discovered the region in the brain that responds to touch in the clitoris, which could help in future treatments for sexual violence victims.