MANILA, Philippines — He started his rush hour commute at 5:15 a.m.

, taking a roundabout
route from Quezon City to Marikina and then on to Manila.

By the time Salvador Panelo arrived for work at Malacañang yesterday on the motorcycle of a
Good Samaritan who had given him a free ride, the presidential spokesman had been on the
road for nearly four hours, which were spent waiting for rides, transferring jeepneys and dodging
journalists who had staked him out.

Despite the arduous commute, Panelo stood pat on his assessment that there is no transport
crisis in Metro Manila.

After taking on the challenge of critics for him to experience the daily grind of commuters,
Panelo admitted there is a traffic problem in the metropolis but not a paralysis of public
transportation.

“Walang duda na mayroong traffic crisis pero hindi transportation crisis kasi when you say
transportation crisis wala ka nang sinasakyan, paralyzed ang buong traffic (There is no doubt
that there is a traffic crisis but not a transportation crisis, because when you say transportation
crisis, it means you cannot get a ride anymore and the whole traffic is paralyzed),” he told
reporters.

Panelo denied that he and other members of the Duterte Cabinet do not sympathize with the
riding public.

He said he accepted the commute challenge to prove that there is no paralysis in the mass
transport system.

Panelo noted that he and other members of the Cabinet are used to taking public transport,
contrary to how they are being painted by critics.

Having grown up in the streets, he said he is used to fighting for a seat when he rides the bus,
jeep, tricycle.

He said Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, who is a billionaire, rides public transportation.

Panelo acknowledged that commuters should not be experiencing inconveniences when taking
public transportation.

He praised Filipinos for their “creativity” in handling the traffic situation, maintaining that he is not
being insensitive to the plight of commuters.

4-hour commute
Panelo started his four-hour travel to Malacañang before daybreak, taking four jeepneys and a
motorcycle ride in a roundabout route that took him to Marikina and back to Manila.
He left his son’s residence in New Manila at around 5:15 a.m., walked 15 minutes to the main
road between Gilmore and Balete Drive for his first jeepney ride. He arrived in Malacañang at
8:46 a.m. or 46 minutes after the hour government work starts.

Panelo explained at a news briefing that he planned to leave from his house in Marikina, but he
slept at his son’s home in New Manila, so he started his commute from there.

From New Manila, he headed to Cubao in a jeepney, then took another ride to Concepcion in
Marikina – his original starting point – then back to Cubao from where he was supposed to ride
the LRT-2, but he skipped the plan because of the media. He headed to Sta. Mesa instead.

Since he was followed by media, Panelo said he decided to push through with his jeepney ride
going to Mendiola through Aurora Boulevard.

Panelo was seen holding a copy of The STAR during his commute.

He said commuters should leave home early to arrive at their destination on time.

Panelo draws flak

Militant lawmakers slammed Panelo for insisting that there is no traffic crisis in Metro Manila.

The Makabayan bloc led by Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate said Panelo’s taking on the
challenge to experience the daily grind of commuters would not solve the traffic crisis.

“Tragically, despite the not-so-low profile rides, up till now Secretary Salvador Panelo sorely
misses the point of the commute challenge,” Zarate said. “The purpose of the challenge is to
show him and the government, and for him to at least experience the hardships that commuters
endure for hours of waiting just to get public transport, plus the monstrous traffic to get to school
and their workplaces every day. This worsening problem demands that the government must
act immediately to address it by improving public mass transportation system.”

Zarate contested the claim of Panelo that there is no crisis in the absence of paralysis of mass
transport.

The lawmaker said the Palace official should not twist the definition of crisis, which he said is “a
time of intense difficulty, trouble or danger” and “does not include paralysis.”

“He should not insist on his definition of crisis because that’s not what it means to our
commuters,” Zarate said.

“It took him four hours and four jeepney transfers plus one motorcycle ride to traverse a 25-
kilometer distance that should only take one hour without the traffic. Isn’t that too much time
wasted for ordinary commuters? If there’s no transport crisis, he could have reached Baguio
already with that period of travel,” he added.
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said Panelo’s four-hour
travel to Malacañang was a clear indication that there is a mass transport crisis that needs to be
addressed by the government.

“Congratulations Secretary Panelo for arriving in one piece in Malacañang after nearly four
hours of commute!  Medyo late na kayo kung government time yan (You’re a bit late if we are
going to follow the government work time),” Reyes said.

Netizens said Panelo’s commute challenge was a mere publicity stunt.

A job for Superman

Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go said it would take Superman to untangle Metro Manila’s worsening
traffic congestion.

Go made the statement during his visit yesterday to fire victims in Sta. Ana, Manila where he
also commented on Panelo’s travel to Malacañang.

“For me, the only one who can solve traffic mess is Superman,” he told reporters.

Go said even during his electoral campaign in 2016, President Duterte had declared that the
worsening traffic could not be solved.

He said Duterte is no longer keen on seeking emergency powers to address traffic congestion
as he only has three years left in his term.

When told of Panelo’s commute, Go said he would prefer to ride his motorbike.

Labor group Defend Job Philippines said Panelo should not deny that commuters have been
suffering from transportation crisis.

The group’s spokesman Christian Lloud Magsoy said Panelo got “a dose of his own medicine”
after taking on the commute challenge.

Magsoy challenged other government officials, including President Duterte, Metropolitan Manila
Development Authority chairman Danny Lim and his spokesperson Celine Pialago to commute
for one week during rush hour to “see for themselves first-hand the struggles of commuters.” –
With Edu Punay, Elizabeth Marcelo, Paolo Romero, Sheila Crisostomo

In modern life we have to face with many problems one of which is traffic congestion becoming
more serious day after day. It is said that the high volume of vehicles, the inadequate
infrastructure and the irrational distribution of the development are main reasons for increasing
traffic jam

The major cause leading to traffic congestion is the high number of vehicle which was caused by
the population and the development of economy. To solve this problem, the government should
encourage people to use public transport or vehicles with small size such as bicycles or make tax
on private vehicles. Particularly, in some Asia countries such as Viet Nam, the local authorities
passed law restricting to the number of vehicles for each family. The methods mentioned above
is indeed effective in fact.

That the inadequate infrastructure cannot handle the issue of traffic is also a crucial reason. The
public transport such as bus, subway or train is not available and its quality is very bad,
especially in the developing countries. Besides, the highway and road network is incapable of
meeting the requirement of increasing number of vehicle. Coping with these difficulties, the
government should make an investment in the traffic facilities, namely, the public transport need
improving to become more modern and convenient. In addition, it is useful to build overpasses
and more lanes in the streets.

Apparently, the irrational distribution and the lack of conscience make the traffic worse and
worse. The head offices, the universities or hospitals often locate in the centre of city attracting a
heavy flow of people in rush hour. To handle this situation, the government should allocate
suitably, for instance some university or office will be moved to the outskirt of city. It is
necessary to encourage people obey the traffic rules which will make greatly change the problem
of traffic.

Finally, it's high time we were aware of the disadvantage as well as the solutions to the traffic
congestion. With great effort from each individualist and government, our society will be
definitely cleaner and well ï organized.