Gadon to SC: Disbar Duterte for conduct unbecoming

Metro Manila, Philippines — Presidential anti-poverty czar Larry Gadon has asked the Supreme Court to impose on Vice President Sara Duterte the same fate as his: disbarment from the legal profession.

Gadon filed a letter-complaint with the court on Wednesday, Nov. 27, that sought disbarment proceedings against Duterte for her recent statements that were “undoubtedly illegal, immoral, and condemnable.”

Duterte recently said that she contracted a gun for hire for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez if ever she gets assassinated.

“While it may be alleged that the intent has not been consummated, nevertheless the statement revealed a fully constituted plan for murdering three above named individuals as she further affirmed that the assassination plot is ‘not a joke,’” Gadon wrote.

The vice president’s statement on video, marked with expletives, has been live streamed on social media platform Facebook and carried by media outfits and other people.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) earlier said it has asked Meta, which owns Facebook, to “preserve” the video, which was a midnight press conference of Duterte.

In his letter, Gadon highlighted how the Supreme Court suspended him for a year before the disbarment “with no entitlement for judicial clemency.”

He said the court “did not bother to read” his pleadings and arguments, adding that the DOJ dismissed the case against him.

In June 2023, the high court unanimously disbarred Gadon over “misogynistic, sexist, abusive and repeated intemperate language” against journalist Raissa Robles. The court moved on its own without an outside complaint.

“Despite the injustice, the unfairness and the extreme discrimination that the undersigned suffered from the Supreme Court, the signatory still believes that the institution will outlive some bias minds and personalities in the High Court and that the Supreme Court will stand as an institution that truly serves its role of upholding the principles of justice and apply the law against anyone,” Gadon said.

“If the Supreme Court has applied it wrongfully in the circumstances of Atty. Larry Gadon, there is no reason that the Supreme Court can not apply it rightfully to Sara Z Duterte-Carpio,” he said.

Gadon’s complaint would be the third disbarment move against Duterte in the Supreme Court.

Duterte has a pending disbarment case before the Supreme Court when as Davao City mayor in 2011 she punched a court sheriff serving a demolition order. This was also noted in Gadon’s letter.

The Supreme Court announced on Tuesday that it received in November an “anonymous complaint” against Duterte after a previous statement made against Marcos’ father, the former President Ferdinand E. Marcos.

On Oct. 18, Duterte said she previously warned Sen. Imee Marcos that she would exhume the remains of the Marcos patriarch and throw them to the West Philippine Sea if political attacks from the administration continued.

In a news briefing in Zamboanga City, Duterte said she has yet to receive copies of the new complaints.

“Di ko masabi kung ano talaga ‘yong nakalagay do’n, bine-base ko lang siya sa news reports na lumalabas,” she told reporters when asked for a reaction.

[Translation: I cannot say what the content of the complaints are. I’m just basing them on the news reports.]

Gadon’s regrets, threats

Talking to reporters before filing the complaint, Gadon said, “Tingnan ko ang tigas ng Supreme Court ngayon [Let me see the rigidity of the Supreme Court now],” claiming that the set of justices were “anti-Marcos.”

“Kung hindi nila idi-disbar si Sara dahil dito [If they were not to disbar Sara because of her remarks], I will file an impeachment case against all of the justices,” he also said.

He urged the vice president to resign as he claimed that in the next Congress, Duterte would be supposedly impeached.

“Yes, I really regret,” Gadon said of supporting the Duterte family. “Hindi ko akalain na ganyan pala sila, eh [I didn’t know they will be like that].”

During the 2022 elections, Duterte endorsed Gadon’s senatorial run, and jokingly said they both faced disbarment complaints.