Fact check: Photo of Korean 'commuters' in line actually queue for visas
MANILA, Philippines — A Facebook post compared the situation of commuters in three countries, including the Philippines, amid strong calls for better transportation in Metro Manila.
CLAIM: A Facebook page entitled, "President BBM Supporters" claimed that commuters in South Korea, Japan and Manila all have to suffer long lines for transportation rides.
The claim was brought up in defense of the commuter crisis in Metro Manila, with administration supporters pointing out that commuters all over Asia supposedly have it bad.
RATING: This is false.
FACTS: The photos do not actually show commuters in line for public transit in those countries.
What the post said
The post made a collage of photos from South Korea, Japan and Manila where commuters are supposedly in line for transportation.
The photo taken from Manila showed travelers waiting for a ride at the EDSA bus carousel with pasted screencapture of comments saying they are blaming President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for the line of commuters.
It was captioned: “Rush hours commuters in Philippines, South Korea and Japan. Meanwhile in the Philippines, ayaw ng mahabang pila. Kawawa daw sabi ng mga alagad ni Santa Leni.”
(Meanwhile in the Philippines, they do not like long lines. Saint Leni’s disciple say they are miserable.)
Screengrab by Philstar.com, July 20, 2022
What it left out
A Google reverse image search showed that the photo from South Korea is actually from Asahi Shimbun Digital website showing those in line for the Korean Embassy. It was also not taken in South Korea.
Google translated its caption to: “In front of the Consular Section of the Korean Embassy there was a line for about 100 meters.”
The photo was taken by Yuko Kawasaki, Minato-ku, Tokyo at 8:48 a,m. on June 2, 2022.
The photo claiming to show Japanese commuters was posted by the Japan Moments page that shows “respect and discipline” in the country.
Essential context
President Marcos said that the free bus rides at the EDSA carousel will be until end of the year, but the project is plagued with not only long lines of commuters, but delayed payments for drivers as well.
Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista admitted that the government has yet to find funding sources for the P1.4 billion needed to sustain the program.
Lawmakers are also pushing for a legislative probe into allegations of illegal dismissal and salaries delayed for years of bus driver.
"Transport workers under the ES Consortium and the Mega Manila Consortium, which operate the buses that ply the EDSA bus carousel, have experienced abuse at the hands of their former employers and lack of reprieve from the government," the resolution filed by the Makabayan bloc reads.
"Apart from delayed payment of salary, EDSA carousel bus drivers and conductors were also forced to travel from 2 a.m. to 10 a.m., a total of almost 18 to 21 hours [of] work per day."
Survey results by transport advocacy network The Passenger Forum also found that 79% of respondents agree that their waiting time to get a ride is too long while 96% disagree that the number of public utility vehicles on the road is enough to service commuters.
Why it matters?
The post, which fell under Interaksyon’s cursory monitoring, already has 1,500 reactions, 293 comments and 212 shares.
It not only belittles the woes of our commuters but also of the drivers who plied the roads for long hours under the government program. — with reports from Franco Luna, intern Cristina Chi
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This story is supported by the Philippine Fact-check Incubator, an Internews initiative to build the fact-checking capacity of news organizations in the Philippines and encourage participation in global fact-checking efforts.
Philstar.com is also a founding partner of Tsek.ph, a collaborative fact-checking project for the 2022 Philippines’ elections and an initiative of academe, civil society groups and media to counter disinformation and provide the public with verified information.
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