SUMMARY
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CLAIM: Filipino engineers were able to build a train only when Rodrigo Duterte became president.
Facebook page Dodong Takyo posted this claim on January 25, 2019, with a caption that reads: “Kung hindi naging presidente si Duterte, hindi tayo magkakaroon ng sariling tren na gawa natin.” (If Rodrigo Duterte did not become president, we would not have made our own train.)
The claim was emailed to Rappler for fact-checking.
Crowdtangle showed pro-Duterte pages – such as Rodrigo Duterte Support Page by Dr. Eli Alegado, Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos, and Duterte News Today – posted related news, crediting President Duterte for the train.
These pages got a total engagement of 3,244. Together, they have a total of over 500,000 followers.
Rating: MISLEADING
The Facts: Filipino engineers started developing trains in 2012, or 4 years before Duterte was elected president. The initiative was sustained by the Duterte administration.
A report on ABS-CBN’s news website says it took 5 years for the group of engineers and scientists in the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Metals Industry Research and Development Center to fully develop the trains.
The hybrid electric train (HET) was first launched to the public in June 2016. Last March 1, the Philippine National Railways rolled out the first Filipino-built train. It can serve 650,000 commuters at a speed of 50 kilometers per hour.
Editor’s Note: We updated this fact check piece to clarify that the DOST developed different types of trains: these include the hybrid electric train and the hybrid electric road train.
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