Demesa speaks out vs political ad

Reacting over a political campaign advertisement, American businesswoman Sedy Demesa yesterday denied having any special interest in maintaining a good relationship with the Babauta administration.

Demesa—who owns controlling shares in Pleasant Care, a company that operates convalescent homes in California and Nevada—said her businesses in the CNMI are all legitimate and non-controversial. Demesa owns the weekly publication Pacific Times and the monthly P magazine, which began circulation in the CNMI early this year.

Demesa issued a statement in reaction to a Covenant Party ad that raised questions regarding possible special interests she might have in supporting the re-election bid of Gov. Juan N. Babauta.

The ad alleged that Demesa has been spending thousands of dollars by sponsoring a free magazine, a free newspaper, a television show, and website “for the glaringly obvious benefit of a sitting governor’s reelection campaign.” The ad stated that the public has a right to know Demesa’s special interest in the reelection of Babauta and running mate Lt. Gov. Diego T. Benavente.

“I am not a tycoon as falsely portrayed by the advertisement. My business operations in the Northern Marianas are too small to necessitate special interest relations with anyone from the government, although Pleasant Care in California and Nevada hold a combined gross annual income of approximately $224 million,” Demesa said.

“I don’t operate businesses in the CNMI that are under the watchful eyes of the federal government or human rights groups. Besides, I am a legitimate investor who strongly believes in due process,” she said. “My business holdings in the Northern Marianas are far from being controversial: nursing education and healthcare. Since when do educational advancement and better healthcare delivery have corrupting influence on anything?”

Demesa said Pacific Towers, a company where she owns majority shares, recently acquired the Koreana Hotel-Saipan to consolidate her local operations related to health, education and entertainment businesses.

“I am shocked that a political group would stoop down to the level of maligning a legitimate small investor’s person and intentionally put false colors to a purely government-investor relation just so they can discredit an opponent and desperately try to win votes. I have been around the islands, talked to so many local people and I know that they are smart to be persuaded by dirty political games,” Demesa said.

Demesa said her involvement in P and the Pacific Times has been purely business, saying that she has not been meddling with the publications’ editorial affairs.

Covenant’s advertising committee chair Charles Reyes Jr. insisted that the publications are manifestly propaganda supporting the reelection bid of Babauta. Reyes justified the ad, saying that the public has a right to know how much Demesa is contributing to Babauta’s political campaign.

“[The ad] looked into the relationship between Babauta and Demesa. It’s well within the parameters of free speech. The governor is a public figure,” Reyes said.