FALSE: Photos of DLTB’s new bus interior

At a glance:

• Claim: A series of photos showed the supposed interiors of Del Monte Land Transport Bus Company’s (DLTB Co) new bus.
• Rating: FALSE
• The facts: The photos of the supposed interior of the bus are from a bus company based in Myanmar, not DLTB.
• Why we fact checked this: These photos are circulating on both Facebook and Twitter and have accumulated thousands of interactions since they were posted.

Complete details:

A series of photos showed the supposed interiors of Del Monte Land Transport Bus Company’s (DLTB Co) new buses, which adhere to social distancing protocols in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The photos, posted on Twitter on October 2 by user @_CEREALKILL3R, showed the exterior of a DLTB bus together with its interior, which allegedly has exclusive compartments for passengers. As of writing, the tweet has 2,500 retweets, 2,200 quote tweets, and 22,200 likes.

In June, Facebook page Murang Pabahay SA Bicol also made the same claim. The post accumulated over 25,000 reactions, 78,000 shares, and 9,200 comments as of posting.

These are false.

The photos of the supposed interior of the bus are from a bus company based in Myanmar, not DLTB.

A reverse image search showed that the photos were originally posted by Joyous Journey (JJ) Express Bus Company from Myanmar.

JJ Express posted a promotional video for their bus on their official Facebook page in June showcasing their line called the “Dream Bus.” The bus interior can be seen at the 31-second mark of the video.

Meanwhile, photos and videos of DLTB’s new bus have been shared on its official Facebook page. There have also been news reports showing DLTB’s new bus interiors. These photos and videos are not the same as the ones that are circulating on social media.

The photos in the reports and on DLTB’s Facebook page showed a 36-seater bus divided into 3 rows and two aisles. Each seat was surrounded by acrylic and plastic dividers. There were no metal compartments like the interiors of the JJ Express bus.

Inquirer.net posted a series of photos on Facebook on June 16 showing the prototype of DLTB’s bus proposed by Del Monte Motor Works Inc, DLTB’s parent company. The post was also shared on DLTB’s Facebook page.

TV Patrol also showed what the inside of DLTB’s new bus looked like in a report uploaded to YouTube on May 31. The report was also shared on DLTB’s Facebook page.

Along with the new interior design, the bus company also introduced a cashless fare system in their new normal plan. Reduced social distancing on public transport was introduced on September 14. On October 12, the government decided to relax physical distancing rules for public transportation, requiring passengers to maintain a distance of one seat apart. – Hyacinth Estrada/Rappler.com

This article was written by a volunteer of Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program, a 5-week exclusive and hands-on training on detecting, investigating, and verifying online misinformation and disinformation.

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