Panelo explains why commute took almost four hours, rejects calls for repeat

Presidential spokesman Secretary Salvador Panelo on Friday night explained his three-and-a-half-hour commute from his residence to Malacañang.

Panelo, who lived in New Manila in Quezon City, said he could have reached Malacañang in 20 minutes using public transportation.

He, however, went farther away to Marikina before commuting back to Quezon City en route to Manila.

"I left at 5:15 a.m. so I could arrive at—and reach—Malacañang before 9 a.m. From my residence, I could have reached my place of work in 20 minutes but I opted to traverse the longest route," Panelo said in a statement.

"Rode in four jeepneys commencing at Hemady Street en route to Cubao, then from Cubao to Marikina, then from Marikina to Cubao, thereafter from Cubao to Mendiola, where the tricycles were either unavailable or broken," he added.

Panelo said he commuted to Marikina away from Malacañang so he could evaluate the traffic and public transport situation.

"I chose the circuitous route so that I may be able to assess the traffic situation in those areas. Hence, it took me almost four hours before I reached my destination," Panelo said.

"The problem, as it should be obvious by now, is with respect to the duration of one's travel and not in regard to the availability of our mass transportation," he added.

Including Panelo's trip from Quezon City to Marikina, the spokesman's commute lasted a total of around three and a half hours.

But counting only from his farthest point in Marikina at around 6 a.m. to his destination in Malacañang at past 8 a.m., it took Panelo more than two hours to commute to work.

Panelo, however, declined to say whether he will commute from Malacañang to his house.

“Secret,” Panelo told reporters when so asked.

Panelo thumbed down suggestions that he again go through the ordeal of commuting from his residence to Malacañang.

Panelo said in his statement said it was already pointless to do so.

"Leftists and detractors are starting to forward one additional challenge after another. There is no longer any point of accepting any," Panelo said.

"I knew the traffic woes that the commuters and workers go through even before I accepted the challenge. Their creativity has managed to tide them vis-à-vis their daily ordeal," he added.

"I empathize with their everyday plight. And this administration is doing its best to resolve this long-standing problem that we have been facing for more than a decade," Panelo said. —NB, GMA News