Abella sees need to include civil society in gov’t decisions

Presidential candidate Ernesto Abella on Saturday said he saw the need to include civil society in the decision making of the government, noting that there is a huge gap between the rich and the poor.

At the PiliPinas Debates 2022, Abella, who is also a former presidential spokesperson of the Duterte administration, said poverty is the result of wrong policies which is the reason the country “fail.”

“Ang nakita ko po kailangan talaga isali ang ordinaryong mamamayan we need to include civil society, we need to include them sa proseso, pangalawa po kailangan ng gobyernong nararamdaman. Ang kahirapan po ay hindi dahilan sa swerte, ang kahirapan po ay dahilan sa maling polisiya, poverty is not the result of luck or destiny, poverty is the result of wrong policies that is why we fail,” he added.

(We really need to include the ordinary people, we need to include civil society, we need to include them in the process, secondly, we need a government that is felt by the people. Poverty is not the result of luck, poverty is the result of wrong policies, poverty is not the result of luck or destiny, poverty is the result of wrong policies that is why we fail.)

Abella said he also sees the need for a “confident” national identity among the Filipino youth in order to restore their patriotism and faith in the country.

“Kailangan natin ngayon ng isang confident national identity. Kung kailangan po maisoli sa mga kabataan ang sense of being a Filipino 'yun po ang kailangan natin, mahalaga 'yung pananaw para sa bayan hindi lang 'yung alam natin kung ano ang gagawin para sa mga problema ngayon, kung hindi alam po natin kung saan sila dadalhin at magkaroon tayo ng isang bayan na nararapat para sa Pilipino at mga Pilipinong nararapat sa bayan,” he said.

(We now need a confident national identity. If we need to instill in the youth the sense of being a Filipino that's what we need, their vision is important for the country. Not just that we know what to do for the  problems in our country, also we should know how to address it and let's have a country that is right for the Filipinos and Filipinos are right for the country.)

Abella is running as an independent candidate.—AOL, GMA News