The Spoliarium beep card that went viral this week is already sold out—but if you weren’t able to get your hands on one, more cards will be available soon.
We dropped by the National Museum of Fine Arts on May 22nd, the second day of the card’s public availability, and were pleasantly surprised to see quite a few people lined up to enter the museum on a weekday. The museum staff confirmed that there has been an influx of visitors since the release of the Spoliarium beep card, of which there are 1,500 pieces for this first batch. On the first day alone, 540 pieces were sold.
The limited-edition transport card is a project of the National Museum Employees’ Multi-Purpose Cooperative (NMEMPC) to commemorate the 140th anniversary of the Spoliarium’s gold medal win at the Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes in Madrid. Juan Luna spent eight months completing the masterpiece, which had to be split into three pieces to be transported from Spain to Manila because of its size. It is displayed on the second floor of the National Museum of Fine Arts.
When will the next batch of Spoliarium beep cards be available?
According to Alvin Anthony S. Claveria, chair of the board of directors of NMEMPC, the next batch of cards should be available in the coming weeks. The demand and public support for the limited-edition beep card was unexpected, he says, and they didn’t think the first batch would be sold out in just two days.
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This is actually the second limited-edition beep card produced in collaboration with NMEMPC. In October 2023, beep had a National Museum series in four designs, featuring the National Museum of Fine Arts, Anthropology, and Natural History, and the National Museum of the Philippines - Cebu. The Natural History card also had an image of Lolong at the back.
How much is the Spoliarium beep card?
The Spoliarium beep card is priced at P500. That includes only the card; you will have to reload it separately. Like an ordinary beep card, it may be used to pay fares on the LRT-1, LRT-2, MRT-3, P2P buses, Cebu ferries, and select convenience stores and partner merchants.
You can follow the Facebook page of the National Museum Employees’ Multi-Purpose Cooperative for announcements on the availability of the card. You can also visit the National Museum to check out the other Spoliarium merchandise available until June 21 at the President Sergio Osmeña Function Hall just behind the Spoliarium. The museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday, 9am to 6pm. Admission is free.
