He said yes: palace spokesperson Panelo accepts commute challenge

After saying commute to work challenge is “silly,” Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo eventually accepted the challenge to ride public transportation to go to work on Friday, October 11.

“The challenge to commute is accepted,”  Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Panelo said in a message to reporters yesterday.

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“This coming Friday, I’ll take the jeepney and the LRT in going to work,” he added.

Militant groups first challenged Panelo to commute to work after the palace spokesperson denied that there was a mass transport crisis in Metro Manila.

The Anakbayan group recently challenged Panelo to take public transport instead of his private vehicle to work so Panelo could experience the “hellish reality” commuters endure daily. The group also challenged President Duterte, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, and Metro Manila Development Authority spokeswoman Celine Pialago.

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Labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) posed the same challenge to Panelo to commute to work.

The Palace official asserted that there was no mass transportation crisis because passengers could still get to their destinations.

“I stand by my statement: there is no mass transport crisis. The crisis is in the sufferance of commuters and motorists; while the other crisis is in the inefficient operation and maintenance of the LRTs – the crisis is in its poor management,” Panelo said.

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He also advised commuters to simply go to work early so they would not run late.

“If you want to arrive early in your destination, then you go there earlier,” he said.

Also read: Watch: LRT-2 operation suspended because of fire