SC: Gadon’s act discredits legal profession
BY ASHZEL HACHERO and JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR
THE Supreme Court has disbarred Lorenzo “Larry” Gadon, presidential adviser for poverty alleviation, for cursing and repeatedly uttering “profane remarks” against a journalist in December 2021.
“By a unanimous vote of 15-0, the Supreme Court en banc resolved to disbar Atty. Lorenzo “Larry” Gadon for the viral video clip where he repeatedly cursed and uttered profane remarks against journalist Raissa Robles,” said the SC’s public information office.
The tribunal’s decision was made public two days after Malacañang announced Gadon’s appointment which was met with criticisms from various sectors.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said Malacañang was aware of the cases against Gadon before the Supreme Court even before he was appointed.
“The President felt that his work as presidential adviser will not get affected by his status as a lawyer. This is a matter which he will have to personally attend to. He will continue in his new role as presidential adviser on poverty alleviation as there are urgent matters that need to be done in the President’s anti-poverty programs. The President believes he will do a good job,” he said in a statement.
Gadon said he will file a motion for reconsideration on the ground that the penalty is too harsh for the offense committed, which was his outburst against Robles.
Senate deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros said the President should reconsider Gadon’s appointment because a “disgraced former attorney does not inspire confidence in the Cabinet.”
Hontiveros said retaining Gadon “will only demoralize the bureaucracy by incentivizing an official whom the Court unanimously does not trust.”
“This will be a slap in the face for our legal professionals and yet another black eye on good governance so early on in the current administration,” she said.
Hontiveros also lauded the SC “for its indignation about misogyny and sexism in our institutions which is vital to the government’s integrity.”
‘VOLUME OF COMPLAINTS’
In 2019, Gadon was convicted by the Court and suspended from practicing law for three months for similarly using offensive and intemperate language, and warned that a repetition of the act will merit a more severe sanction.
The suspension was in connection with a complaint filed by a dermatologist who Gadon allegedly unilaterally suspended in March 2009 from a mall-based healthcare facility on the basis of a complaint from a patient. Gadon was reported to be the corporate secretary and vice president of the healthcare facility.
Gadon is facing six other administrative cases before the Office of the Bar Confidant and four before the Commission on Bar Discipline of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, including a complaint filed in 2016 after he allegedly said Muslims should be killed to attain peace in Mindanao.
“Although these cases have yet to be decided, the volume of administrative complaints against Atty. Gadon indubitably speaks of his character,” the SC concluded.
In the Robles case, the SC took motu proprio cognizance of the video clip and issued an order for the preventive suspension of Gadon from the practice of law, pending judgment on the disbarment case.
The SC said it had found the video clip as “indisputably scandalous that it discredits the legal profession.”
In particular, it said Gadon violated Canon II on Propriety of the Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability which imposes the standard that a “lawyer shall, at all times, act with propriety and maintain the appearance of propriety in professional and personal dealings, observe honesty, respect and courtesy, and uphold the dignity of the legal profession consistent with the highest standard of ethical behavior.”
The SC pointed out that Gadon “unfortunately failed to realize that lawyers are expected to avoid scandalous behavior, whether in their public or private lives.”
REPRIMAND
The SC, in the same ruling, reprimanded Gadon and cited him in direct contempt of court for his “baseless allegations of partiality and bias” against Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen and Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa.
Gadon sought to inhibit Leonen and Caguioa from acting on the case on the grounds which the SC “found to be purely conjecture.”
The unanimous ruling also reminded lawyers that the privilege to practice law is bestowed only upon individuals who are competent intellectually, academically, and equally important, morally.
“There is no room in this noble profession for misogyny and sexism. The Court will never tolerate abuse, in whatever form, especially when perpetrated by an officer of the court,” it added.
Robles, aside from the disbarment complaint, also sued Gadon before the Quezon City Prosecutors Office for violating Republic Act 1313 or the Safe Spaces Act and for libel and cyber libel.
Gadon, known as the man behind the impeachment complaint against ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, drew public attention and controversy in 2018 for calling Sereno’s supporters “mga bobo” (stupid), and flashing the middle finger at them outside the SC’s compound in Baguio City.
During his failed electoral campaign in 2016 and 2022, he styled himself as an “anti-bobo” crusader. Gadon was part of Marcos’ senatorial slate in the 2022 elections.
RECONSIDERATION
Gadon, in saying he will seek reconsideration from the tribunal, insisted that his outburst was due to the fact that Robles, who has raised the issue of a tax case against the Marcos family, “was blatantly spreading lies against President BBM during the campaign period intended to fool the public on issues intended to cause damage to the candidacy of Marcos Jr.”
In a statement, he also said his disbarment will not affect his work as presidential adviser on poverty alleviation as his work does not require lawyering.
“I will treat this matter as a personal concern as it will not also affect my commitment to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr to help his administration achieve its goals and implement its programs to serve the public, particularly on the aspect of poverty alleviation. The position and the task given to me by the President do not require lawyering hence my suspension and disbarment have no effect on my appointment,” he said.
Gadon noted he has stopped practicing law since 2015. He added it is also “okay” if he is disbarred since he has a new mandate now as a presidential adviser.
“It’s okay if the Supreme Court thinks that I am to be disbarred. Anyway, I have a new mandate now. I am here to serve as a secretary, not as a lawyer. I will just continue to serve the Filipino people. If this is what it takes to be a public servant, then I am willing to pay the price for the Filipino people,” he said.
In an interview with ANC, Gadon said the disbarment case may be a “political decision” after he filed impeachment complaints against Sereno in 2017 and Leonen in 2019.
“I could say this is a political decision rather than a meritorious decision. And I’m still proud that, if ever I was discharged from the Bar, it did not, it was not because I stole money from a client or because I am corrupt or because I am dumb in the practice of law. This is purely political,” he said.
He said there are other “lawyers” who have committed graver offenses, like former Justice secretary and senator Leila de Lima who supposedly defied a Supreme Court order that allowed former president Gloria Arroyo to travel abroad for medical reasons, and lawyer Chel Diokno, of the Free Legal Assistance Group, for allegedly making a “mockery of the Supreme Court proceedings” when he supposedly falsified an authorization given to by a group of fishermen to file a case on behalf of them. — With Raymond Africa
