Abella won't back out of presidential race: 'I have a vision'

Former Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ernesto Abella has ruled out quitting the presidential race, saying he has a vision for the country.

Abella made the statement after vice presidential candidate Rizalito David recently appealed to other candidates to form a coalition to defeat presidential hopeful Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and his running mate, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, in the May 9 polls. 

“It all depends if that is your platform, if your platform is to beat these guys then that’s what you do. The way I see it is I have a vision and I don’t think it is fair to the vision, and fair to the choice I have made if I just give it up for this because I don’t think the linchpin is these candidates,” Abella said in an interview with state-run PTV on Saturday.

Abella, who is also a former spokesperson for President Rodrigo Duterte, stressed that the people must learn how to become citizens.

“I think the linchpin is the people themselves. Filipino people have to learn to become citizens...And what is a citizen? We are part of the republic, and it is not just the presidency; otherwise, we are talking about a monarchy,” he said.

“It is about the people so ang akin yun ang (for me, my) role ko eh (is) to get the people going and para sa akin hindi pa tapos [ang laban] (for me the fight is not yet over)."

Abella earlier said that his vision was of a country that would have 100 years of peaceful economic rise.

He urged Filipinos to do “something new and bold,” adding that they should vote for a candidate who had a vision for the country.

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