An unnecessary burden
It may just be a propitious coincidence, but the Supreme Court’s recent decision to disbar controversial lawyer Lorenzo “Larry” Gadon seems to be a timely and fitting response to his recent appointment as presidential adviser for poverty alleviation.
On Monday last week, the Presidential Communications Office announced Gadon’s posting, saying it “reflects the government’s commitment to addressing one of the most pressing challenges faced by our nation.”
The next day, the high court’s ruling was issued, revoking Gadon’s license to practice law, citing his “indisputably scandalous [behavior]” in a viral video that “discredits the legal profession.” Gadon was suspended for the same offense last year when he used “misogynistic, sexist, abusive, and repeated intemperate language” against journalist Raissa Robles after she tweeted about the unpaid estate taxes of the family of then presidential aspirant Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
While Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on Wednesday said that the disbarred lawyer “will continue in his new role,” Gadon said he would appeal the judgment for being “too harsh.” He added that the high court’s ruling was a “political rather than a meritorious decision,” claiming that it could be payback for his filing an impeachment complaint against Associate Justice Marvic Leonen in 2019 and former chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno in 2017, which led to her ouster.
He might well be describing his own appointment as anti-poverty czar, some sectors—notably the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas—have pointed out, citing “political patronage and favor” as being behind it. Gadon, who ran for senator under President Marcos’ Kilusang Bagong Lipunan party in 2022, was promptly named to the post after the lapse of the one-year ban prohibiting losing candidates from holding public office.
Talent and skills, not political accommodation, gave him this post, countered Gadon whose first project, “Batang Busog, Malusog,” or BBM, is an apparent play on the President’s moniker. But fisherfolk and peasant groups—who represent the Philippines’ poorest sectors—have claimed otherwise, decrying Gadon’s selection as indicative of the administration’s “insincerity” in fighting poverty.
A Social Weather Stations survey indicated that half or 51 percent of Filipino families described themselves as poor in March 2023, a figure that translates to 14 million families out of the 26.39 million households recorded by the Philippine Statistics Authority in 2020.
Gabriela party list Rep. Arlene Brosas said the appointment of Gadon, “known for his vulgar language and disbarment cases … reflects the administration’s clownish approach in addressing hunger and poverty in the country. Gadon is an extremely poor choice for a public position that requires serious and diligent work, especially as more than half of Filipinos rate themselves as poor.”
And why create “a superfluous position and waste government funds” when there is already a National Anti-Poverty Commission that advises the President on strategies to fight poverty, asked former NAPC lead convenor Liza Masa. Such redundant post also goes against Mr. Marcos’ Executive Order No. 1 to rightsize the government by “abolishing duplicated and overlapping official functions.”
Opposition Sen. Risa Hontiveros also pointed out that “a disgraced former attorney does not inspire confidence in the Cabinet.” Having Gadon in government would only “demoralize the bureaucracy by incentivizing an official whom the court unanimously does not trust,” she added.
The staunch Marcos loyalist, who lost in his 2016, 2019, and 2022 Senate bids, has always courted controversies and had been widely censured for his outrageous pronouncements, among them his malicious claim that former president Benigno Aquino III had died of HIV/AIDS; threatening to bring the entire armed forces to Mindanao to exterminate an entire race during a 2016 interview on terrorists; refusing to wear a face mask at the height of the COVID-19 crisis in 2020 and spouting false information against this precautionary measure; and giving the finger and hurling expletives at Sereno supporters during a 2018 Baguio rally.
Gadon is also facing six administrative cases before the Office of the Bar Confidant and four disciplinary cases before the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, according to the high court. While the cases have yet to be decided, “the volume of administrative complaints filed against Gadon indubitably speaks of his character,” the court noted.
Surely, the poor do not deserve someone who attracts controversy for all the wrong reasons as their champion. With so many problems to hurdle, the Marcos administration should not take the unnecessary burden of justifying Gadon’s government post. The public perception of personal loyalty being valued over public service and competence detracts as well from the political capital and credibility of this year-old government. The crucial task of governance is difficult enough without the extra weight of notoriety pulling it back.
