You may have seen the above tweets made by Skyway O&M Corporation about the closure of Skyway Stage 3. According to the post, the elevated expressway was ordered closed by the Toll Regulatory Board until construction of all on- and off-ramps is completed. It looks like the directive was so urgent that SOMCO felt it needed to post it twice on its Twitter account (just look at the timestamps). But it appears that the regulating body did not even issue such a ruling, and it has turned to social media to explain its side of the story.

In a short and simple statement, the TRB denied issuing such a mandate and maintained its position of keeping Skyway Stage 3 open as it is extremely beneficial to the motoring public. If you haven’t driven on this toll road, travel times between Quezon City and Makati have reportedly been as fast as 20 minutes. Its operator, San Miguel Corporation, hasn’t been charging toll fees since its opening back in December.

While SMC did say that the order to close Skyway Stage 3 did not come from its side, such a move might really be necessary. You might remember that back in January, there were already proposed toll fees with the operator slated to begin charging users by February 1. Furthermore. the closure of the roadway might be unavoidable in order to mitigate delays in its completion. Lastly, it could be in San Miguel’s best interest to start imposing toll fees in earnest as this expressway is a business venture after all.

We’re not really sure why SOMCO would post such a thing in the first place. It is plausible that there might be some sort of misunderstanding between SOMCO and TRB. Both tweets have now been taken down. And so, as far as we’re concerned, motorists can continue to access and enjoy the benefits of Skyway Stage 3. Further confirming this is SMC president Ramon S. Ang himself saying that the tollway will remain open.