Miriam claims P300-M offer to withdraw

MANILA, Philippines – People’s Reform Party standard bearer Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago said she was offered P300 million to withdraw from the presidential race.

Santiago is faring poorly in what she described as “commercial surveys” intended to turn off potential campaign contributors and force her out of the race.

In a speech yesterday afternoon before a crowd of cheering students at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, Laguna, Santiago said her consistently poor showing in surveys could be part of a conspiracy to ease her out.

“My situation is so difficult. They are trying to pull down my survey standing so I would lose campaign contributors. And if I lose funding, they will ask me to withdraw from the race and give me P300 million as reimbursement for my campaign expenses,” she said in Filipino.

She didn’t name names but she said the offer was coursed through her husband. “Marami sila (They were many),” she said, referring to those who supposedly were trying to bribe her.

“I’m from UP. What would I do with that money? I’ll grow old before I finish counting that money,” the senator said.

Santiago said she finds it puzzling that while she is lagging behind other candidates in national surveys, she has consistently topped mock polls conducted in most colleges and universities across the country. “Binabayaran ang mga ito eh (They are being paid),” she said of mainstream surveys.

Santiago said voters’ basing their choices during the elections on survey results would be like allowing survey firms to choose the country’s next leaders.

“This should not be the case. So I hope you will go to your homes and your neighborhoods and tell them about this sorry conspiracy,” she said.