MRT-3 will be giving free rides for one month

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No less than President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has announced that the MRT-3 will be giving free rides for one month, starting 28 March to 30 April 2022, following the successful completion of the rail system's massive and comprehensive rehabilitation project."I'd like to announce that Secretary Tugade decided that the MRT-3 rides will be free (hindi naman forever) from March 28 to April 30, 2022," President Duterte said.

President Duterte made the announcement as he graced the completion ceremony of the MRT-3 Rehabilitation project today, 22 March 2022, together with Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Art Tugade.

Secretary Tugade noted that train passengers can ride the MRT-3 free of charge in all its stations during the said dates.

He also stressed that this will greatly help ease the financial burden of the riding public, especially amid the inflation, rising fuel prices, and with many Filipino workers now returning to on-site work.

Moreover, the free ride initiative is expected to complement the improved services of the rail line after the DOTr Railway sector, the MRT-3 management, and its maintenance provider, Sumitomo-MHI-TESP completed the rehabilitation works last December 2021, two months ahead of schedule.

Following its rehabilitation, the MRT-3 now operates at speed of up to 60 kph from the previous 25 kph. The number of trains have also increased from as few as 13, now up to 23 operational trains. Meanwhile, the headway or the waiting time between trains have been reduced from around 10 minutes to as low as 3.5 minutes.

"Gumanda at nagbago ang ridership natin, bago mag pandemya -- 260,000. Ngayon, as I speak, bagamat may pandemya, 'yung ridership natin ay umaabot sa 280,000. At hangarin namin yung ridership kapag nailagay lahat 'yan [23 trains] ay magiging 600,000 per day. Ito ang legasiyang iiwanan ng Duterte administration sa MRT-3," Secretary Tugade said.

Under the MRT-3 rehabilitation project, all of its 72 Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs) were restored, rail tracks were replaced and rehabilitated. Also upgraded were the line's power supply, overhead catenary system, communications and signaling system, stations, as well as depot facilities and equipment.

Spoken Word Poet Mark Ghosn chosen to perform the theme of GMA Election Advocacy

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GMA News and Public Affairs has announced that they have chosen Filipino spoken word poet Mark Ghosn as one of the
performers of the official theme song of their 2022 Election advocacy.

Mark Ghosn renders the spoken word poetry on the iconic theme song entitled 'Panata sa Bayan' sang by Aicelle Santos.

Last November 2021, GMA proudly unveiled its election advocacy campaign “Dapat Totoo,” which is also the main content of the spoken word piece.

Aside from being a spoken word artist, Mark Ghosn is also known as the creator of the hit show 'Ampalaya Monologues' which was also adapted into a book and a TV series.

Videos of his performances went viral several times including that of a monologue about trolls and fake news entitled
'Trolling in the Deep.'

According to Ghosn, more than endorsing a candidate, he chose to continue fighting
for a bigger advocacy, and that is to fight the spread of fake news.

The collaboration of Mark Ghosn and Aicelle Santos is currently playing on the official social media accounts, radio stations and TV channels of the Kapuso Network.

DOTr to unveil first 8 out of 104 NSCR train cars, to sign contract for 304 more train cars

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Continuing its record-breaking streak, the massive North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) System will reach two milestones on Friday, 18 March 2022, with the unveiling of the first 8 out of 104 NSCR train cars (13 8-car train sets) ordered last July 2019, and the back-to-back contract signing for an additional 304 train cars (38 8-car train sets) for the 147 kilometer NSCR System.
Led by Transportation Secretary Art Tugade, DOTr and PNR will unveil the NSCR's first 8-car train set, which was ordered from the Japan Transport Engineering Company (J-TREC) and Sumitomo Corporation, manufactured in Yokohama, Japan, and designed to comply with both Japanese and international standards.

The NSCR's train sets are designed to operate at up to 120 kilometers per hour, shortening the travel time from Clark International Airport in Pampanga to Calamba in Laguna from more than 4 hours down to less than 2 hours.

After decades of attempts starting as early as 1994, the 38 kilometer PNR Clark 1 and 53 kilometer PNR Clark 2 segments of the 147 kilometer NSCR System are finally ongoing full-blast construction.

With 35 stations spanning 28 Local Government Units (LGU) from Mabalacat, Pampanga to Calamba, Laguna, the NSCR System is expected to serve over a million passengers per day. During construction, the project is expected to create around 50,000 direct jobs and 110,000 indirect jobs, with an additional 8,000 jobs created when the railway line starts full operations.

The NSCR System is the Duterte Administration’s single largest flagship project under the Build Build Build Program, which aims to move more people, provide more comfortable travel, and boost inclusive regional growth.