HEADS UP: Goodbye, Plastic Straws, Coffee Stirrers (Feb. 5)

Here's a Heads Up from Reportr on news that you need to know today, Feb. 5.

TOP STORIES

• Plastic straws and coffee stirrers could be banned as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources implements a long overdue provision of the country's solid waste management law.
• Filipinos are using less coins during the pandemic. The BSP said this was due to the shift to digital payments. Last week, full year GDP data showed a P801-billion drop in household spending.
• Our boss, JG Summit CEO Lance Gokongwei spoke to LinkedIn about leadership during the pandemic. Here's how he knows when the investment is right.

• The Philippine Air Force will soon get 15 new Black Hawk helicopters as President Rodrigo Duterte continues to modernize the military's hardware.
• Christine Dacera's friends, who are persons of interest in the criminal investigation on her death, continue to live in fear as the case drags.
• If grew your hair too long during the quarantine, you can donate it to cancer patients through the Makati Medical Center.
• Those self-administered COVID-19 tests, don't use them, says the DOH. They're not approved by the FDA.
• The poorest consumers of electricity need not worry about disconnection for now, Malacanang said.
• Former Grab Philippines president Brian Cu, a startup veteran, is joining Cebu Pacific as an independent board director.

METRO-REGIONS

• Mayor Vico Sotto inaugurated two school buildings in Pasig that are missing the usual trapo stamps of politicians' names, photos and initials.
• The death toll due to an ammonia leak at a Navotas City ice plant rose to two. Mayor Toby Tiangco, whose family owns the facility, said they would shoulder burial and medical expenses.
• Those caught faking RT-PCR tests to vacation in Boracay will be declared "persona non-grata," meaning they will be barred entry.
• Bohol will accept saliva test results in place of RT-PCR for visitors within its tourism bubble.
• Manila Mayor Isko Moreno approved UST's request for the limited resumption of face-to-face classes.
• The Intramuros-Binondo bridge will be open this year as construction continues with help from China, said Public Works Sec. Mark Villar.

WORLD

• The "worst apartment ever" in New York is trending on TikTok, and in Philippine pesos, it costs roughly 70,000 per month.
• Sex toys are hot buys during the pandemic as quarantined consumers got over taboos and began experimenting.900,000 New Podcasts Mushroomed During the Pandemic
• Another lockdown hit: podcasts. There were nearly 900,000 new podcasts uploaded in 2020.
• Here's why U.S. First Lady Jill Biden will be nothing like her predecessor, Melania Trump.