Libre renews train distribution contracts

THREE-YEAR DEAL Inquirer president/CEO Sandy Prieto-Romualdez, acting Metro Rail Transit general manager Deo Leo Manalo and Inquirer chief operating officer Rene Reinoso sign a three-year distribution contract for Inquirer Libre. With them are Libre marketing head Blair Marquez and editor in chief Chito dela Vega. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Inquirer Libre, the free newspaper of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, has sealed two contracts assuring its position as the dominant news source of thousands of commuters of Metro Manila’s light rail train (LRT) network.

Inquirer president/CEO Sandy Prieto-Romualdez and chief operating officer Rene R. Reinoso signed a three-year deal with Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade and Deo Leo Manalo, acting general manager (GM) of Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT 3).

Some half a million people ride the MRT along Edsa on weekdays.

Romualdez and Reinoso also signed a new contract with Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC) president/CEO Rogelio Singson.
LRMC is the private company operating LRT Line 1, which connects Baclaran in Pasay City to Roosevelt in Quezon City via Taft Avenue.

Last November, Romualdez and Reinoso renewed an agreement with acting general manager Emerson L. Benitez of LRT Line 2, which links Recto in Manila to Santolan in Pasig City.

With these agreements, the Inquirer keeps its commitment to provide commuters a free, relevant and up-to-date daily newspaper in key stations of all three light rail train systems across Metro Manila. Over a million commuters ride the trains every day.

The Inquirer has been publishing and distributing Inquirer Libre for free since 2001.

“Free papers give those who cannot spare enough budget the opportunity to be informed and engaged through relevant news and events happening around us. Aligned with the Inquirer’s mission, Libre’s role is more of a public service initiative to the community, strengthening the reading habit across all sectors and empowering them to make wise and sound decisions,” Reinoso said.

For Romualdez, publishing a free newspaper complements the Inquirer thrust to be the most engaging news source in the country.

She said the renewal of contracts to distribute Libre in the train stations proved that the Department of Transportation and LRMC continued to be the Inquirer’s committed partners in keeping the people informed through free access to relevant news.

“We are very happy and proud that Libre has been able to service the commuters by providing them with key news and information as well as giving them delight through the years. We would like to sincerely thank Transportation Secretary Tugade, GM Manalo, LRMC president Singson and their teams for giving us the opportunity to partner with them in continuing this service,” Romualdez said.

Aside from the free newspaper, readers can access Libre on social media through facebook.com/Inquirerlibre, @inquirer_libre on Twitter, inquirerlibre on Instagram, and through chat on https://viber.com/libre.

Libre’s digital edition can be downloaded for free on pressreader https://inq.ph/inqplus. Also free is Libre mobile app, which can be downloaded on Playstore for Androids and on Apple Store for IOS.