Presidential bet Abella to make PH agriculture a mega-industry, ‘activate’ civil society

FILE PHOTO: Then presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella (Photo by KING RODRIGUEZ / Presidential Photographers Division)

MANILA, Philippines — Former Palace spokesperson Ernesto Abella will be pushing to make agriculture a mega-industry in the country if he gets elected president via the May 9 elections.

During a presidential debate hosted by SMNI on Tuesday, Abella was asked about his key priority programs and how he plans to realize them if he clinches the top government post.

“Unang-una po… ang plano po natin ay gawin po nating isang mega-industry ang agrikultura. Hindi lang po siya basta paigtingin kundi gawin po talaga natin siyang isang mega-industry para in one blow masagot po natin ang mga pangangailangan,” he said, noting that the need for research and development to post-harvest must be addressed.

(First, our plan is to make agriculture a mega-industry. Not only strengthen it but make it a mega-industry so that in one blow we would address the farmers’ needs.)

He is also eyeing to “activate once more [the] civil society”.

“The other thing po, para maharap o maisauli ang tiwala ng tao sa gobyerno ay kung pupwede po’y paigtingin natin, let’s activate once more civil society. Ibalanse po natin ang (Let’s balance the) power between government and big business and then make sure that it is balanced, the power is rebalanced by the effective release of civil society,” he added.

(The other thing, to restore the public’s trust in the government, let’s activate once more civil society.)

The first spokesperson of President Rodrigo Duterte likewise said that a national volunteer corps would revive the public’s love for the government.

“Pangatlo po is, para po maibalik ang pagmamahal ng mga tao lalo ng kabataan sa bayan ay ating plano po ay paigtingin din ang isang confident national identity na kung saan po magkaroon tayo ng isang national volunteer corps between ages 18 and 35,” he explained.

(Third, to revive the public’s love, especially the youth, we plan to strengthen the confident national identity wherein we will have a national volunteer corps between ages 18 and 35.)

He also said that society is like sitting in a “social volcano” wherein the gap between the rich and poor is significant.

“Sa akin pong pakikipagsalamuha sa katauhan for the past several months ay nakita ko po, nakita ko na para tayong nakaupo sa isang social volcano. Ang laki po ng agwat ng mayaman at mahirap,” he noted.

(With my interactions with people for the past several months, I saw that we are like sitting in a social volcano. The difference between the rich and poor is wide.)

Abella is running for president as an independent candidate in this year’s national polls.

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