Presidential candidate Ernesto Abella, who once served as spokesperson of incumbent President Duterte, claimed that there are unthinkably poor Filipinos living in the latter's home region of Mindanao.

Abella made the revelation Thursday, Feb. 17 during the Pandesal Forum at Kamuning Bakery Café where he served as guest.

"Kung titignan mo yung mapa ng poverty index ng Pilipinas, yung nasa Manila green pa; yung nasa Luzon, green; yung Visayas, green. Pagdating mo sa Mindanao, pula (If you look at the poverty index map of the Philippines, Manila is colored green; Luzon, green; Visayas, green. When it comes to Mindanao, it's red)," he said.

He then went on to describe the level of destitution in the southern islands in a very visceral manner.

"Kung akala mo mahirap ka na dahil kumakain ka ng pagpag, hindi pa yan ang tunay na kahirapan. Ang tunay na mahihirap nandun sa Mindanao, grabe (If you think you're poor because you're eating pagpag, that isn't true poverty. The truly poor people reside in Mindanao, my goodness)," Abella said.

Pagpag is the colloquial term for leftover food from restaurants--usually fast food joints--that have been scavenged, cleaned, and re-cooked into new viands. The word itself literally means "to shake off the dirt" from something.

Pagpag is common fare even in most poor communities in Metro Manila where they are sold carinderia-style.

"Because they are so neglected...there are really, really, really poor people in Mindanao. Unang-unang walang pagkain (First of all there's no food)--that's absolute poverty," said the former Duterte administration official.

"So anong mangyayari? Ang mga bata stunted (So what will happen? The children will have stunted growth). Pag stunted ang mga bata (If the children are stunted), how can they--paano ang next generation natin? (what will become of our next generation?) You know, stunted sila (they are stunted) physically, intellectually, mentally--how can we have a brilliant next generation? So we need to be able to address this poverty," Abella said.

But how does the Palace hopeful intend to do that? By "addressing the most underserved sector of our society--agriculture," he said.

Abella said he would make agriculture a "mega-industry" to counter poverty should he win the presidential race in May 2022.

Abella, who has a school in Davao City, served as Palace mouthpiece from June 30, 2016 to October 30, 2017.