Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo must have felt painted into a corner after the near-universal outrage over his denial of a transport crisis. He had no choice but say “Game!” to a challenge posted by some citizens that he take public transportation.
Panelo left his Marikina home at 5:15 Friday morning. To get to his workplace at Malacañang, he had to take four jeepneys. It was said he found it difficult to get a ride that a policeman had to help him get one. During the last leg of his trip, he hitched a ride with a man on a motorcycle who was conveniently nearby.
He arrived at the office at 8:46, after three and a half hours on the road. He should have left his house earlier.
It was a good thing the location of his office did not require the spokesman to take the train—and experience standing in line for hours, and squeeze into coaches, and entertain the very real possibility of the train breaking down.
It is unlikely that Panelo went back to Marikina in the same manner, or that he would happily do the same thing again on Monday, and the day after that, and yet after. What thoughts were going on in his head, we do not claim to know, but we hope it is more than being preoccupied about being proven wrong, or about saving face.
At the very least, despite his lateness at work Friday, Mr. Panelo does not have to worry about deductions to his salary. “It’s okay,” he told those who asked whether he was worried about his tardiness. It’s not farfetched to imagine that the whole publicity stunt was, in fact, part of the job—in which case, he was way too early, starting the work at 5:15.
Panelo’s Friday-morning commute was in fact the least of the challenges he should get worried about. It should have awakened him to the fact that there is, indeed, a transport crisis, and it is one that ordinary people have no choice but to face every day.
He was wrong to have denied the mess, because it is there, and only after an acknowledgment of the problem can there be real, lasting solutions. Now perhaps Panelo can go back to his boss and his colleagues and have meaningful, sensible discussions. And then take on the greater challenge of empathizing with the people’s plight, instead of preaching from their privileged perches.