On dares, challenges

“It would be unfair to say that it was the Duterte administration’s fault that the traffic conditions have worsened.

Admitting that it was really silly, presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo nonetheless commenced on his “commute challenge” on Friday and completed it after almost four hours of traveling.

The Palace official travelled from his son’s residence in Quezon City to Malacañang — riding four jeepneys and hitching on a private motorcycle before arriving at the Palace, and despite the fact that Panelo refused to have his commute covered by media, eager netizens almost documented his whole trip.

“They dared the wrong person,” Panelo said after completing the challenge.

He admitted that while there is really a problem in the metro with regards to traffic, Filipinos in general are “creative” in dealing with such issues.

However, Panelo said that while the traffic problem is real, “It does not mean that we will just let things be. That’s why the government is looking for solutions to the problem. It cannot be permanent; it cannot be constant. We have to change this.”

Of course, the public — despite Panelo’s acceptance and completion of the challenge imposed by militant groups to take public utility vehicles in going to Malacañang — still has a thing or two to say.

Netizens nitpicked on the way the Palace official launched his commute from home to work, and even said Panelo was not “dressed properly” for someone who is going to work. Some even added, “Who dares to wear white for what’s bound to be a grimy and sweat-soaked experience?”

Others, meantime, just described Panelo’s acceptance of the commute challenge as a “publicity stunt.”

Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. — the one who imposed the challenge on Panelo — even stressed that the Palace official’s ordeal on Friday was proof that there is really a “mass transport crisis” since it took him almost four hours of travel from home to work.

For one, it showed only the obvious — that the monstrous traffic jam in Metro Manila has been a burden to the public for as long as they can remember. But it would be unfair to say that it was the Duterte administration’s fault that the traffic conditions have worsened.

Panelo stressed that the government is working on a solution to ease traffic — and the “Build, Build, Build” project is one proof that President Rodrigo Duterte is keen on making the lives of Filipinos better by solidifying the country’s infrastructure.

And to Reyes, we ask this: Why the sudden interest on public officials taking mass transportation?

We know for a fact that he kept quiet when former President Noynoy Aquino said, “The worsening traffic condition in the country should not cause distress because it is a sign of economic progress.”

If that’s what the previous administration was saying, then it should follow that the traffic situation now is no different from the past administration.

The only difference is the Duterte administration is doing something about it, and it is doing it the right way.