Abella seeks support for arts, entertainment to shore up economy

Presidential candidate and former Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ernesto Abella on Thursday said he would reinforce the country’s arts and entertainment industry to support the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and help rebuild the economy.

During the Go Negosyo and One News' KandidaTalks, Abella noted that he will continue the 10-point economic agenda of the current administration, but would make priority of agriculture, digital economy, domestic tourism, and the creative industry.

“We can actually strengthen our soft power, itong cultural diplomacy natin. Ang bango kaya ng Pilipino, ang bango ng kanyang appeal, ang ganda ng appeal niya, and we can do this to our advantage, to maximum advantage. That is one of the areas we’d like to pour money in, ‘yung ating arts and entertainment, especially the culture,” he said.

(We can actually strengthen our soft power through our cultural diplomacy. The Filipinos smell good and have good appeal and we could thus use this to our maximum advantage. The arts and entertainment, especially the culture, is one of the areas we’d like to pour money into.)

He said that with a nourished culture industry, the MSMEs could gain other means to generate income and therefore help in boosting the country's economy.

“When you push the creative arts, may pananamit, may mga sapatos, may mga music (there are clothes, shoes, and music). So kumbaga, the whole aspect, you can fit in eh. We can all shift, magkaron tayo ng mga gigs (we can have gigs), so they could actually participate in this whole enterprise of rebuilding the Philippine economy,” he added.

Abella had earlier underscored the need to invest in art and entertainment, adding that it can be used as a “marketing arm” for the export industry.

He then said that he would also boost innovative tourism projects to also support MSMEs.—LDF, GMA News