MANILA (UPDATE)—Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo will put his pronouncement — and possibly his patience — to the test when he takes public transportation to Malacañang on Friday.

Panelo promised this after he played down daily commuter woes.

In a statement Wednesday, he said he would take the jeepney and the Light Rail Transit to go to work later this week.

"The challenge to commute is accepted. This coming Friday I'll take the jeepney and the LRT in going to work," he told reporters.

Panelo: The challenge to commute is accepted. This coming Friday ill take the Jeepney and the LRT in going to work.

— Pia Gutierrez (@pia_gutierrez) October 9, 2019

Anakbayan and Kilusang Mayo Uno challenged Panelo to join them in commuting to work on Friday morning, a dare Panelo initially balked at.

"That's a silly challenge," Panelo told reporters in Bacolod, adding that the country has long been suffering from transportation woes.

In a separate interview on DZMM Wednesday night, Panelo said he is willing to join activist Renato Reyes Jr. and commute to work every day.

"Ang hindi ninyo alam, ako'y marunong mag-commute. Nagco-commute talaga ako. 'Yun nga, 'yung sabi sa 'kin na mag-commute, this has been the challenge. But I will accept, sabihin mo kay Renato Reyes, gusto mo araw-araw kami mag-commute, magkasama kaming dalawa, saan man kami magpunta," he said.

It was Reyes who said a "mass transport crisis" is plaguing commuters in Metro Manila.

Panelo drew flak Tuesday after he shrugged off Reyes' statement. This, amid partial operations at the LRT-2 following a fire, problems at the LRT-1 and MRT-3, unprecedented traffic at the northbound side of the South Luzon Expressway due to the Skyway extension project, and daily gridlocks in the metro's crammed roads.

• No transport crisis? Panelo draws flak for denial

He later on admitted that a "crisis in effective management" is plaguing Metro Manila's LRT system, which ferries hundreds of thousands of commuters every day.

• Panelo says aware of vexing daily commute, says LRT has 'crisis in management'

The LRT-2 suspended operations from Oct. 3 to 7 after a fire hit one its power transformers, forcing some 220,000 passengers to find alternative modes of transport. The line is currently running partial operations.

Meanwhile, the LRT-1 halted trips in 2 stations Thursday due to "mechanical issues", the same day that an MRT-3 train stalled between 2 stations.

- with reports from Pia Gutierrez and Nico Delfin, ABS-CBN News