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FACT CHECK: DOTr not halting Mindanao Railway Project

20231028 105745 0000

A Facebook post that claims that the Mindanao Railway Project (MRP) is now dead on its track is false.

Philippine Construction Boom posted Thursday a social media card that reads: “Bye! Mindanao Railway Project,” with a sad emoji accompanying it.

The misleading post came after reports came out that the Philippine government under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had dropped China as funder of the MRP, a key infrastructure project of former President Rodrigo Duterte, the first and only Mindanawon to win the presidency.

The construction of the MRP was a campaign promise of Duterte that failed to take off under his term (2016 to 2022) after China failed to submit a shortlist of contractors.

During his first State of the Nation Address on July 25 last year, Marcos pledged to continue the MRP, with a cost of P83 billion for the first phase covering the Tagum-Davao-Digos (TDD) segment.

But last Thursday, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista confirmed that the Philippine government will no longer seek funding from China for the construction of the MRP.

Bautista, however, did not say the construction of the Mindanao Railway Project will not continue, contrary to the claim of Philippine Construction Boom, which generated  1,223 reactions, 726 comments and 107 shares as of 9 a.m. Saturday.

Its Facebook page has 234,000 followers.

The MRP was supposed to be financed under Chinese official development assistance (ODA).

In a statement on Thursday, Oct. 26, Bautista said the Philippine government decided to drop China as financier for the MRP, but is looking for other lending sources.

“We will look for another funding source. We are working on that now,” Bautista said on the sidelines of the German–Philippine Chamber of Commerce & Industry luncheon meeting in Makati City on Oct. 26.

Apart from the MRP, the transportation chief said that two other Department of Transportation (DOTr) projects – the South Long Haul Project and the Subic-Clark Railway – were also dropped from Chinese ODA funding. 

“Yun ang hahanapan namin ng additional funding or replacement (We will look for additional or replacement funding for those projects),” he said, adding that the DOTr has requested the assistance of the Department of Finance (DOF).

Bautista revealed the agency is eyeing funding from the Japan International Cooperation Agency, World Bank, or the Asian Development Bank.

The DOF had sent a letter to China informing them that the Philippines will not pursue the loan for the Mindanao Railway Project anymore, Bautista said.

In a letter to Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian dated September 22, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno informed Beijing that the Philippine government is “no longer inclined to pursue Chinese ODA financing for the Mindanao Railway Project Phase 1-Tagum-Davao-Digos Segment.”

Bautista said the interest of China to fund the MRP and the two other railway projects has “waned.”

Tension between the Philippines and China has escalated over the dispute on the West Philippine Sea, which Beijing claims is a part of its territory. In 2016, the United Nations Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled in favor of the Philippines with regards to the WPS issue.

Asked if the rising tension between Manila and Beijing was to blame, the Transportation chief said, “Hindi naman (Not necessarily) because that problem has been there even before this tension in the West Philippine Sea,” a report by GMA News Online said.

According to DoTR, the TDD segment will reduce travel time from 3.5 hours to 1.3 hours between Tagum and Digos cities and will provide “passengers safe, fast, and reliable transport options on the TDD commuter line.”

The TDD segment is the first phase of the 1,550-kilometer Mindanao railway system that aims to connect the key cities of Davao, Butuan, Surigao, Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, Cotabato, Zamboanga and General Santos upon its completion.

As with all our other reports, MindaNews welcomes leads or suggestions from the public to potential fact-check stories. 

MindaNews is a verified signatory to the Code of Principles of the International Fact-Checking Network. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)

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About MindaNews Fact Check

MindaNews Fact Check seeks to fight misinformation and disinformation circulating on the internet, news platforms and communities that we serve. 


What is MindaNews Fact Check?


MindaNews Fact Check tracks and debunks fake news, false claims and misleading statements of government officials, civil society leaders and netizens being spread on the internet, especially on social media sites. MindaNews values truth and accuracy in performing our journalistic work.


Why we fact-check?


Politicians, government officials and other public and private figures at times tend to bend facts to suit or advance their vested interests, or their principals, in effect misleading the public. The distorted facts spread easily with the popularity of the internet and the wide influence of social media.


As independent journalists, our primordial duty is to tell the truth and present facts to help the public discern issues and concerns impacting their lives.


How do we rate claims?


FAKE -  if the claim is completely invented.


FALSE - if the claim contradicts, undermines or disputes truthful facts, actual events and official records (i.e. laws and scientific studies)


MISLEADING – if the claim is based on truth but maliciously twisted that gives a different impression to serve a group or individual’s vested interests.


ALTERED – pertains to images or videos that were manipulated to mislead the public.


MISSING CONTEXT – if the claim needs more clarification or contextualization to make it clearer.

Where do you post your results?


We post our fact-checked stories in mindanews.com, on Facebook and Twitter with links to the original piece. We have a dedicated fact check page, where all fact-checked stories can be found. 


How did MindaNews Fact Check start?


Since its establishment in 2001, MindaNews has been living up to its vision of being the “leading provider of accurate, timely and comprehensive news and information on Mindanao and its peoples, serving economically, politically and culturally empowered communities” and its mission to “professionally and responsibly cover Mindanao events, peoples and issues to inform, educate, inspire and influence communities.”


MindaNews was founded by reporters precisely to ensure that reports about Mindanao, an island grouping that has suffered misinformation and disinformation long before these words became fashionable, are accurate. 


Our policy has always been to ensure that reports are thoroughly vetted before they are dispatched and uploaded on our website. 


Our fact-checking initiative with a uniform format started in October 2021 as part of Internews’ pioneering Philippine Fact-Checker Incubator (PFCI) project. Internews is an international non-profit that supports independent media from 100 countries. 


Prior to the PFCI project, MindaNews co-founded Tsek.ph, a collaboration among Philippine media institutions to fight disinformation and misinformation during the 2019. Tsek.ph did the same thing for the 2022 elections. 


Where do you get funds?


MindaNews has sustained its operation through proceeds from subscriptions of its news service  (news, special reports, opinion pieces, photos) and sales of books. It also receives grants from non-state actors.  Editorial prerogative, however, is left entirely to MindaNews. 


MindaNews does not accept funds from politicians or domestic or foreign states for its fact-checking initiative. For the other operations of MindaNews as a media organization in the past two years, we have received grants from the National Endowment for Democracy and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, which we use for coverage, staff compensation, administrative expenses and to train other journalists.


MindaNews Fact Check is supported by a grant from Internews.


Do you accept leads from the public for your fact-checking initiative?


MindaNews encourages the public to provide us with leads not only for potential fact-check pieces but other news stories as well of interest to the general public.



Our fact checks include this paragraph encouraging readers to be part of the process: “As with all our other reports, MindaNews welcomes leads or suggestions from the public to potential fact check pieces.”


MindaNews Fact Check - Methodology

What standards do you follow when fact-checking?


As a news organization, we strictly adhere to accuracy, fairness, balance, independence, accountability and transparency not just in our fact-checking initiative but in all other aspects of our work at MindaNews.


We abide by the Philippine Press Institute’s Journalist’s Code of Ethics. Since we became part of Internews’ Philippine Fact-Checker Incubator project, we have been striving to adhere with the IFCN Code of Principles, in step with our organization’s commitment to non-partisanship, transparency and fairness.


We fact-check a claim that is specifically claimed to be a fact and involved the public interest or the welfare of the people. We debunk false claims using official government records, journals or interviews with experts. 


We don’t fact-check opinions.

How do we fact-check?

Step 1: Team members monitor press conferences, speeches, statements, news, interviews, social media sites, etc. for statements worth fact-checking.


Step 2: When a claim is worth fact-checking, a team member looks for multiple sources to dispute the claim, including tracing the original source document.


Step 3:  Fact-checked claims are then submitted to the editor for copy editing and vetting. The link/s to debunk the claim are always included in the story.  


Step 4: A rating card is prepared to accompany the fact-checked piece, or infographics if needed, to immediately flag readers what the article is all about. 


Step 5: The senior editor takes another look before the article is posted on the website and social media accounts.

Correction Policy

Consistent with our vision and mission as a media institution, we rectify any error committed. If you spot a factual error, you may notify us thru editor@mindanews.com or our Facebook Messenger @Mindanews.


Correction Workflow


  • Errors pointed out are immediately brought to the attention of the editors and the fact-checking team. 


  • The fact-checker is immediately notified for verification. 


  • Once verified, the error is to be corrected within 24 hours and vetted before publication on the website. 


  • Readers will immediately know errors have been corrected through the Editor’s note posted above the article. 


  • The person who notified MindaNews about the error will be informed that the correction has been made.

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About MindaNews

MindaNews is the news service arm of the Mindanao Institute of Journalism (MinJourn). It is composed of independent, professional journalists who believe and practice people empowerment through media. MinJourn, which is duly registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission with registration number CN201700385, is managed by its Board of Directors.

MindaNews values its journalistic independence. It started in May 2001 as a media cooperative and in January 2017 registered as a nonstock, nonprofit media organization.  We do not  accept funding from politicians, political parties or partisan groups.

Editorial staff

Fact-checking Unit: Romer (Bong) Sarmiento, Yas D. Ocampo

 

Mindanao Institute of Journalism

 

Board of Directors

President & CEO: Jowel Canuday, D.Phil. (oxon.)
Vice President: Romer S. Sarmiento

Members
Carolyn O. Arguillas, M.A.
Rhodora Gail T. Ilagan, Ph.D.
Amalia B. Cabusao (Doc Can.)
Robert D. Timonera
Ellen P. Alinea

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