MISSING CONTEXT: Metro Manila Subway project snubbed by 6 administrations

At a glance

• Claim: Six administrations allegedly snubbed the Metro Manila Subway project conceived in 1973, preventing the proposal from materializing. 
• Rating: MISSING CONTEXT 
• The facts: In 1977, the subway project did not materialize because of the decision of the administration of Ferdinand E. Marcos to go with the Light Rail Transit (LRT) project instead. This project was also in the works under the administration of Benigno Aquino III, but was shelved due to scheduling constraints. 
• Why we fact-checked this: As of writing, the malicious claim has already garnered 28,000 likes, 7,100 shares, and 5,000 comments on Facebook. 

Complete details 

Several posts on Facebook claim that a proposal had been laid out for the Metro Manila Subway project “as early as 1973,” but the succeeding administrations failed to finance and push through with it. This is why it did not materialize.

“For more than 40 years and six (6) administrations, all the Filipino people only had were proposals, studies, drawings, and presentations,” according to a number of copy-pasted posts on Facebook.

This claim is missing context. 

In 1977, the administration of late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos rejected the subway project, and opted for the Light Rail Transit (LRT) instead due to flooding concerns in different parts of Metro Manila where the supposed subway would be built. 

The Metro Manila subway project, also known as Makati-Pasay-Taguig Mass Transit System Loop, was also in the works under the late president Benigno Aquino III’s administration. However, it was taken out of the public-private partnership (PPP) pipeline due to scheduling constraints.

In 2018, the Duterte administration signed a P51-billion loan with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to push through with the Metro Manila Subway project. This loan will be painstakingly repaid within 40 years. – Rochel Ellen Bernido/Rappler.com 

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