KABANKALAN CITY, Negros Occidental – Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri said on Tuesday that the Veteran Bloc is supporting the bid of Sen. Tito Sotto for Senate President.

Zubiri said the veteran bloc is composed of himself, returning Senators Panfilo Lacson and Sotto, and Loren Legarda.

In his visit to Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental on Tuesday, July 1, Zubiri said that he is not satisfied with the current leadership of the Senate and is open to supporting other candidates for Senate President.

“We’re initially pushing for Sotto. He’ll run against Senate President Francis Escudero. And if he’ll not make it, we will be the next minority,” Zubiri added.

Zubiri said that he witnessed Sotto’s leadership during the pandemic.

“He was not absent at the Senate, while all of us were online at home,” Zubiri said, adding that he was Sotto’s loyal majority leader during his Senate presidency for four-and-a-half years and passed legislations amid the pandemic.

“It goes to show his dedication at that time, a leadership that he led by example,” Zubiri said.

Zubiri said there are a lot of people angry with the Senate. “Let’s face it, it’s kinda dirty now. The Senate now is facing a lot of issues, tests, and challenges. I feel bad about it because it seems the image of the Senate was tarnished,” he added.

He said he does not want a dictatorial Senate leader. “I don’t want us to be similar to other chambers with only one emperor, who dictates all the instructions to the members of the body,” he added.

Zubiri said that Escudero may have 13 signatures to retain the post but “I’m hoping and praying at the end of the day, we all decide a Senate President that will continue the independence as the last baston of democracy.”

He stressed that the role of the Senate President is to stir the Senate as a ship, to show the people that it is the ship of State that will never break down, and never surrender its principles and traditions.

“So, I am praying that we will have a new leadership, someone who keep protecting the integrity and traditions of the Senate,” he said.

Zubiri said they all work on the pleasure of their colleagues. “If they want us back or call for a new leadership, let’s do it,” said Zubiri who stressed that he is not interested in running for Senate President.

“I hope soon there will be more cognizance to what is right, legal, and moral as a member of the Senate,” he said.

He is worried that maybe one day the Senate will lose its relevance and people will push to abolish the chamber.

“Once we lose relevance, the people will no longer want us, no longer need us. That is a failure on our part, as senators,” said Zubiri, who has been a senator for 16 years.

“I’m very emotional because I risk my life defending the Senate under this fake people’s initiative. And then all of a sudden, the image of the Senate now is not the image meant to protect the people,” he said.

He hopes that his colleagues will open their eyes. “Hanggang dito na lang ba tayo? Let’s rise above all of this and fight for the people’s interest,” he said.