PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and the First Family launched yesterday the “Pamilya Pass 1+3 Promo” for the Metro Manila rail transit systems, which offers free rides every Sunday for up to three companions for every paying passenger.
The President, during the launch at the Kamuning Station of the Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT) in Quezon City, said the promo is part of the government’s initiative to ease the financial burden of transport on families, especially during Sundays, which is usually their “bonding” time.
“In Filipino culture, Sundays are for family, for the loved ones to be together to bond. That’s why we made this 1+3 program,” Marcos said.
He said under the program, one person buys one ticket, which can accommodate not just him or her but also three other companions.
Marcos added that the program aims to provide the public some relief in terms of fare as they spend more time together going to different parts of Metro Manila where the Light Rail Transit 1, Light Rail Transit 2 and Metro Rail Transit 3 provide service.
“This, so we can give the public the chance to enjoy their Sunday, because we know how hard it is for commuters. We often hear that they no longer have time for their family because when they arrive, the kids are asleep and when they leave, they are still asleep. So let’s give them a chance to be together,” he added.
Transportation Secretary Vivencio Dizon said the 1+3 promo is not just for families but can also be shared by a group of friends or barkada.
During the launch, the President and the First Lady, with their sons, Ilocos Norte Rep. Sandro Marcos, Simon Marcos and Vincent Marcos, took the MRT from Kamuning Station to North Avenue Station in Quezon City.
They were joined by Dizon, Communications Secretary Jay Ruiz and other MRT/LRT officials.
Videos during the train ride showed the President informing the passengers about the 1+3 promo and expressing hope that families could avail of it while the First Lady chatted with senior citizens.
The DOTr said that for the single journey ticket (SJT), one person pays the fare and informs the teller of the number of companions who would all be issued a ticket that would be left with the guard in the station where they would disembark.
Dizon said the same applies to stored value tickets (STV) or beep cards. A single fare would be charged on the beep card and an SJT would be issued to the companions of the SVT holder.
He said the 1+3 promo would only be available every Sunday starting June 1. It would be available until the government decides to conclude the program.
He said the government would shoulder the cost of the free rides but could not say at the moment how much the cost would entail.
The current fare in the LRT1 is P20 to P55 for SJTs and P15 to P52 for SVT/beep card; in the LRT2, it is P15-P35 for SJT and P13-P33 for SVT/beep card holders; for the MRT3, it is P13-28.
Data from the DOTr showed that during the four Sundays of May, the ridership of LRT 1 totaled about 1.027 million passengers, or between 243,836 to 267,562 passengers every Sunday.
The total passengers of LRT 2 during the four Sundays of May reached 380, 336 or around 88,227 to 102,845 every Sunday. For the MRT, the riders for the past four Sundays totaled 905,391 or between 15,244 to 236,105 passengers every Sunday.
Among those who initially benefited from the Pamilya Pass 3 + 1 promo during the launch were the Natividad family, who rode the MRT from Ortigas station to Kamuning station and paid only P20 for four persons, and the Butalid family, who came from Ayala station to North Avenue station and paid P24 for four persons.
They said they were only informed about the 1+3 promo when they were buying the tickets. Both families were thankful and welcomed the savings that they gained during the ride, which they said is helpful as it is cheaper and faster than riding the bus on EDSA.
