Zubiri: Duterte asked support from senators amid destabilization talks

President Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS

Amid calls for his resignation, President Rodrigo Duterte has sought the support of senators and asked that he be given more time to fix the country’s problems, an allied senator said on Wednesday.

“He (Duterte) never asks for favors or help. But in this particular dinner, he basically mentioned na ‘give me some time to clean up this problem of peace and order and the economy’ and basically the projects that he’s trying to push, anti-poverty projects,” Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri said in an interview at the Senate.

“He asked us to give him some time so that he can make it work. And for me, I appreciate that. I completely appreciate his effort to ask for our support,” he said.

Zubiri was among the 15 senators who attended the dinner held in Malacañang Tuesday night.

READ: Guess who came to Duterte’s ‘intimate’ dinner?

As they were about to end their dinner, he said the President told them to give him a chance to fix the peace and order problem of the country.

“(Because) so many people are asking him to resign, so many people are asking him to step down, so many people are asking, you know in a way, promote destabilization. What he is saying is let him do his job. Let me do my job,” said the senator.

But Zubiri quickly dismissed that the gathering was a loyalty check, saying it was normal for every leader to seek the support of the House of Representatives and of the Senate.

READ: No loyalty check in majority senators’ dinner with President – Sotto,  Legarda

For Duterte to ask the senators to allow him to do his job was not only “very humanly of him” but was also “humbling.”

Asked if the President’s call for support was a sign that he was bothered about the alleged destabilization talks against him, Zubiri answered in the negative.

“Hindi naman (Not really). He did not look bothered last night,” he added. JE