In her post on Facebook on August 14, Mocha Uson said, “Sa katunayan itong mga bagon na ito ay matagal ng pinangako ng AQUINO Govt. at ngayon lamang ito na ilagay. Sa unang 50 DAYS ni P. Duterte.”
Uson also urged her fellow supporters to have the initiative to take videos and photos of all the good things they would notice under President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration and post them online with #50FirstDays.
“Huwag na po tayong umasa sa mga MEDIA na maglalabas ng magandang balita kay P. Duterte. Kaya kung may nakita kayong magandang nangyayari sa inyong lugar i-video o picturan niyo ito at i-hashtag #50Firstdays upang maipakita sa lahat ang mga positibong nangyayari sa ating bansa,” Uson said.
In her video, Uson can be heard saying, “Tulad ng ipinangako ng ating pangulo, gusto nya nang masolusyunan ang problema natin sa trapiko at ngayon ay in-install na po ang mga bagong bagon dito sa EDSA-Pasay. Itong MRT at ito nga po yung mga bagong bagon na nabinbin po noong nakaraang administrasyon.”
“Ito rin po ang ipinangako sa atin ni Secretary Art Tugade ng DOTr o Department of Transportation na solusyunan po ang problema sa trapiko kaya po ito nagdo-double time po sila,” Uson added.
After she was accused of credit grabbing, she posted an update on the same Facebook post, denying that she was attributing the arrival of the new MRT-3 coaches as Duterte’s doing.
But if you listen to what she was saying, she made it seem as though the trains were Duterte’s “promised solution” to the traffic woes in Metro Manila. How else can you interpret this – “Tulad ng ipinangako ng ating pangulo, gusto nya nang masolusyunan ang problema natin sa trapiko at ngayon ay in-install na po ang mga bagong bagon dito sa EDSA-Pasay.”
Her line about Tugade’s promise to resolve the traffic crisis was an even clearer case of attributing the arrival and assembly of the new trains to Duterte’s administration.
However, Facebook page “Daang Matuwid” set out to correct Uson’s false assumptions about the MRT-3 coaches.
On the same day, the page posted a fact-checking photo to counter what Uson said, “Ngayon lang dumating ang mga bagong tren ng MRT-3 sa panahon ng administrasyong Duterte.”
Daang Matuwid said that the coaches or light rail vehicles (LRVs) started arriving in the Philippines in August 15, 2015 and enumerated the specific arrival dates of each LRV.
The Facebook post also said, “Noong May 7, 2016 ay sumalang na sa first revenue trip ang bagong MRT-3 train. As of May 28, 2016, apat na bagong LRVs ay nakasalang na sa mga revenue trips.”
Interaksyon.com reported that after several months of assembly and testing, the new LRVs for MRT-3 started operations and serviced passengers in the morning of May 7.
As for Uson’s claims that the new MRT coaches were finally released after being held up during Aquino’s administration, it was because the purchase of the coaches was stopped by MRT Corporation.
MRTC filed a petition to the Supreme Court to stop the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), now called DOTr, from ordering 48 LRVs as it violates the MRTC’s rights under the build-lease-transfer agreement with DOTC. The Court decided in MRTC’s favor, delaying the purchase of the new LRVs.
But when everything was sorted out, DOTC then published a press release on January 18, 2016 about the delivery of 2 LRVs in January, the upcoming delivery of 2 LRVs in February and the delivery of 4 LRVs every month until January 2017.
Contrary to Uson’s claims, it has been months since the first few LRVs were delivered to the Philippines. Even the MRT coaches that were delivered under the new Duterte admin’s first 50 days in office and those that will be delivered until January 2017 belong to the 48 LRVs bought under the Aquino admin.
Sources: (facebook.com, interaksyon.com, dotc.gov.ph, rappler.com)
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