‘We are all suffering,’ Panelo says of commuting

MANILA, Philippines — “We are all suffering.”

While Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo insisted there is no mass transport crisis, he stressed this does not mean commuters are not suffering.

“Yung transport mismo as a means of transportation, since walang paralysis, walang crisis. But it doesn’t mean na hindi tayo nagsusuffer. We are all suffering,” Panelo said Thursday in a press briefing.

(The means of transportation itself do not have crisis since there is no paralysis. But it doesn’t mean we’re not suffering. We are all suffering.)

“Sa’kin kasi pag crisis ng transport, wala na tayong masakyan. Sarado lahat. Hindi gumagalaw yung LRT, walang bus, walang jeepney. Yun ang tunay na crisis, he added.

(Transport crisis for me means we do not have the means of transportation. Everything is closed. The LRT is not moving, there are no bus nor jeepneys. That is the real crisis.)

Panelo made the statement after he accepted the challenge by several groups to commute to work.

READ: Challenge accepted: Panelo will commute to Malacañang

“Whether you are a motorist or a commuter, you suffer the same. Wala naman pagbabago ‘yun, ganun din yun. All of us are affected by it. Kaya ‘yung crisis, crisis in the suffering of all,” Panelo said in a press briefing.

(Whether you are a motorist or a commuter, you suffer the same. There is no change in that. All of us are affected by it. That’s why the crisis is in the suffering of all.)

“That’s why I said walang crisis, wala naman kasing paralysis e,” he added.

Militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) earlier claimed that Metro Manila is experiencing a mass transport crisis since all three rail systems in the capital region crashed within a week.

READ: Metro Manila now suffering a mass transport crisis — Bayan

But Panelo denied Metro Manila is experiencing such crisis since commuters still reach their destination. /je

READ: Palace: No mass transport crisis yet in Metro Manila