FACT CHECK: Posts on MRT-3 offering free ride promo FAKE

Three Facebook (FB) pages are claiming that the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) is offering commuters a transportation card with a year’s worth of train rides, either for free or for just P168. This is fake.

In an Oct. 3 advisory, the MRT said the pages are not affiliated with them:

“Any statements made on the pages, including supposed promos for free rides, are not sanctioned by the rail line, the Department of Transportation – Metro Rail Transport 3 (DoTr-MRT-3).”

The MRT added that it “will never request for the bank account details of any transacting passenger” and urged the public to “exercise extreme caution in dealing with unofficial and suspicious accounts in social media.”

Uploaded as early as Sept. 26, one of the bogus posts claimed that the MRT-3 will be celebrating its 30th anniversary of operations:

“MRT i​s c​ele​bra​tin​g i​ts ​30t​h a​nni​ver​sar​y a​nd ​giv​ing​ yo​u f​ree​ ri​des​ fo​r a​ wh​ole​ ye​ar!​”

This is not true. The MRT-3, which began operations in December 1999, will have only its 25th anniversary this year.

Another post also suggested that Ayala Corp. manages the MRT.

“Due​ to​ th​e p​ric​e i​ncr​eas​es ​for​ be​ep ​car​ds,​ Tr​ans​por​tat​ion​ in​ Me​tro​ Ma​nil​a a​nd ​Aya​la ​Cor​por​ati​on ​are​ la​unc​hin​g a​ pr​omo​tio​n t​o s​upp​ort​ th​e p​ubl​ic.​ Ge​t y​our​ ca​rd ​for​ ₱1​68!​”

The MRT-3 is jointly operated by the DOTr and Metro Rail Transit Corp., (MRTC), a consortium originally composed of seven companies, including Ayala Land Inc. which is a subsidiary of Ayala Corp.

The FB posts carried a link that redirected to Greek websites about liposuction. VERA Files Fact Check has debunked claims using similar modus.

The bogus posts appeared two weeks after the MRT announced free rides for government officials as part of the Philippine Civil Service’s 124th anniversary.

Uploaded by FB pages Manila Metro (created on Sept. 26, 2024), Manila Transport (Oct. 2, 2024) and Manila Transport (Oct. 4, 2024), the posts garnered over 1,764 interactions.

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(Editor's Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)