Listen to voice of people, Duterte told

DAVAO CITY—An influential religious leader here had asked Mayor Rodrigo Duterte to consider the “voice of the people” as the “voice of God” in deciding whether to run for president in 2016.

“You cannot turn your back on the people,” said Apollo Quiboloy, pastor and head of the 6-million strong Kingdom of Jesus Christ religious group based here.

“You have to remember that the voice of the people is the voice of God,” Quiboloy said during his 64th birthday celebration on Saturday, which Duterte attended.

There has been a growing call for Duterte to run for president, but the mayor, known to talk tough and for his ironfist policy against criminality, had repeatedly denied interest in a higher office.

Quiboloy, a close friend of the mayor’s, has always been vocal about his desire for Duterte to run for president.

In past media interviews, he said he foresees Duterte becoming president because it is the destiny of those who do not desire it.

“The presidency is a destiny and we have seen that past presidents did not desire it. Cory (Aquino) did not desire it, P-Noy did not desire it,” Quiboloy said in February.

He said despite Duterte’s misgivings, the mayor “was more than ready to handle the responsibility of being president.”

Quiboloy, however, admitted no one could force the mayor to run for president.

In his response to Quiboloy’s speech, Duterte said he would “humbly obey” if it was God’s will for him to run.

“I have never coveted the presidency even up to this day but people are saying that I should run for president. That is not for me to decide. It is something which comes from God,” he said. Allan Nawal, Inquirer Mindanao