Crusade for Better Philippines Movement (CBPM) founding chairman Michael Go Say yesterday refuted allegations that he is a drug trafficker on the Philippine National Police (PNP) Narcotics Group (NarcGroup) watch list.
Say also denied reports that drug money was spent on the survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) which his group commissioned.
The SWS survey showed that President Arroyo’s approval rating had increased to 60 percent from Aug. 6 to 9, while also showing that her gross satisfaction rating rose to 55 percent and her net satisfaction rating at 28.
"Definitely, we’re not on that watch-list because I’ve never been engaged in any illegal drugs trade. It’s a demolition job," said Say.
Referring to reports about his alleged involvement in drug trafficking published by two newspapers sympathetic with the political opposition, Say said "that is purely black propaganda at best."
"If they’re trying to go after me because they don’t like the results of the SWS survey, why don’t they pay for another survey to refute it?" Say asked in a telephone interview with The STAR.
Say suspects he was a victim of politically motivated black propaganda by the deposed administration, which may have wanted to "get back" at him after the SWS survey commissioned by CBPM showed Mrs. Arroyo’s popularity ratings have reached an all-time high.
The 42-year-old Say told The STAR he is a professional manager working for Makati City-based construction firm L&M Maxo Co. Inc. Say added that his firm is a publicly listed multinational corporation, 40 percent of which is owned by foreigners and of which he owns a "minority" share. He is not, he said, drug trafficker number 167 on the NarcGroup order of battle.
According to a supposed "secret" report by the NarcGroup dated July 25, 2002, Say was listed as a shabu wholesaler operating in Metro Manila and been under police surveillance for some time now.
When the allegations against him came out yesterday, Say sought out the media when he saw television crews covering the Linggo ng Wika celebration at Club Filipino in San Juan which the CBPM was supporting.
Sue me or clear me
In a prepared statement read before the TV news cameras, Say challenged the NarcGroup to "present the purported report describing one of his namesakes as a drug trafficker."
"Sue me or clear me in the same magnitude that I am being maligned now in media," Say asked the NarcGroup. "The leakage of reports is nothing more than cheap black propaganda aimed at drowning the SWS survey our movement has commissioned which showed a net satisfaction of plus 28 percent for President Arroyo."
Say said he is ready to undergo a public investigation and drug test anytime to prove his innocence. He has also instructed his lawyers to "immediately coordinate" with the NarcGroup to clear his name or file the appropriate charges against him.
"If the issue is the survey, all that must be done is to disprove it, civilly and professionally. I do not intend to take any further assassination of my character sitting down," Say added.
Irritated at the public humiliation he has suffered, Say replied thus to The STAR’s question of whether or not he thinks opposition Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson is behind the smear campaign against him: "My suspicion is that it’s one of their group. Those are my suspicions, but it is difficult to finger-point, because, as a Born Again Christian, we follow the Lord’s way. One should not point accusing fingers."
However, Say confirmed that he became a supporter of Mrs. Arroyo and friend of her husband, First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, when the CBPM got involved in Mr. Arroyo’s medical missions for the poor.
According to Say, the CBPM was founded on Feb. 2, 2001, when it was organized as a "spin-off" of the Mahal Kong Pilipinas Research Foundation formed during the term of former President Corazon Aquino.
"Because we want to continue our efforts in the service of our country, we decided to revive our group through the CBPM, because we feel President Arroyo, as leader of the country, must be supported to continue implementing these reforms," he added.
"When you try to help promote the country before the international investment community, you must support the leader," Say added. "I don’t know why they make a big fuss about it."
In light of this, Say also said CBPM’s detractors should not begrudge the group the P180,000 it spent on the SWS survey it commissioned. According to Say, the SWS survey cost CBPM less as a result of the "professional courtesy" extended to him by SWS because he had previously been engaged in the same research business.
At the Palace, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye refused to be drawn into the allegations against Say and the CBPM, insisting that the Palace was happy with the results of the SWS survey regardless of who commissioned it.
"I do not want to comment on the reputations of some people," Bunye said, "as far as I’m concerned, we’re looking at the organization (SWS) and we’re looking at the methodology of the organization and they seem to be, based on previous records, very reliable."
Bunye also said he was not aware of whether or not Say is a friend of the First Gentleman. The Press Secretary also said he is not privy to whether or not the President had ordered the PNP to investigate the drug trafficking allegations leveled against Say in the media.
"There have been no instructions. We’re not looking beyond the actual survey results," he said.
"Let those who raise the allegations show me the goods on the man," Mangahas said. "Like everyone else, I’d like to know if these charges are true."
Mangahas said Say was a first-time client who wanted to know what everybody else wanted to know. He also slammed the newspapers that published the accusations against Say for not verifying the accuracy of their data.
Mangahas also said all the details about every survey the polling firm conducts, including the names, addresses and contact numbers of survey sponsors, can be accessed through the SWS web site www.sws.org.ph.
"(Say) wanted to ask questions that could well be on everybody else’s mind," Mangahas said. "There was nothing extraordinary or unusual about these questions."
Despite this, Mangahas admitted that the SWS does not use any screening procedures that would filter out potential clients with dubious backgrounds.