Challenge accepted: Panelo will commute to Malacañang

MANILA, Philippines — Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo accepted Wednesday night the challenge of youth group Anakbayan to commute to work so he could experience the daily travails of commuters.

Panelo said he will take public transportation on Friday to get to Malacañang.

“The challenge to commute is accepted. This coming Friday, I’ll take the jeepney and the LRT in going to work,” Panelo told reporters in a text message.

Anakbayan earlier challenged Panelo — along with President Rodrigo Duterte, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority spokesperson Celine Pialago — to “commute to work every day for a week to experience the hellish reality of our everyday commute.”

Panelo initially turned down Anakbayan’s dare and called it “silly.”

READ: Panelo shuns ‘silly’ dare for Duterte, admin execs to commute daily

Panelo, who is also the President’s chief legal counsel, drew flak for denying the claim of Bayan Secretary-General Renato Reyes Jr. that a “mass transport crisis” is currently gripping Metro Manila as all its three railways suffered glitches last week.

/atm