Amid the woeful state of mass transport in the country, Sen. Christoper “Bong” Go said that the only person that can solve the traffic is Superman.
“Para sa akin, ang makaka-solve lang ng traffic ay si Superman (Only Superman can solve the problem of traffic),” Go said when asked if the traffic situation in Metro Manila is hopeless.
This comes after Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo took on the challenge to commute from his residence in Marikina City to his work in Malacañang — taking nearly four hours to do so.
After his journey using public transport, Panelo admiited that there is a traffic problem in Metro Manila while maintaining that that there is no transport paralysis.
“You know when you say transport crisis, talagang you have to refer to… there is a paralysis of the entire mass transit system. But there is a traffic crisis definitely, and there is crisis also in the suffering of commuters as well as motorists – walang kaduda-duda iyon (there’s not doubt about that),” Panelo said.
He said that he accepted the “commute challenge“ to show that there is no paralysis in mass transport and that he, along with most of the members of the President’s cabinet are used to taking public transport, contradicting the statement of activist Renato Reyes.
“Hindi ba ever since sinasabi ko, unang-una kasi laking kalye ako eh. Mula’t sapul sanay na ako diyan sa ganiyang labanan; makipag-unahan ka sa pagkuha ng upuan—sumasakay ako ng bus eh, sumasakay ako ng jeep, ng tricycle. Eh Marikina pa ako, ‘di lalong madami akong biyahe (From the outset, I said that I grew up in the streets. I’m used to fighting for a seat; I’m used to riding buses, jeepney, and tricycles. I’m from Marikina, so I’m used to commuting a lot,” he said.
Meanwhile, Reyes congratulated Panelo for arriving “in one piece” during his journey as a commuter earlier today.
“Congratulations Sec. Panelo for arriving in one piece in Malacañang after nearly four hours of commute! Medyo late na kayo kung government time yan (You’re a bit late if we are going to follow the government work hours),” Reyes said in a press statement.
“Just the same, we hope this experience underscored the fact that there is a mass transport crisis and that long term solutions are needed,” he added. – With Marie Ann Los Banos, Christina Mendez, Elizabeth Marcelo
