The Philippines Supreme Court said Wednesday it has stripped a new adviser to President Ferdinand Marcos of the right to practice law over a “misogynistic” outburst against a journalist.
Marcos appointed lawyer Lorenzo Gadon as his adviser on poverty alleviation on Monday, highlighting his “legal expertise and extensive experience in various industries”.
The following day, the Supreme Court voted unanimously to disbar Gadon over his “misogynistic, sexist, abusive and repeated intemperate language”, the court’s public information office said in a statement Wednesday.
The court cited a viral video in which Gadon “repeatedly cursed and uttered profane remarks” against a woman journalist ahead of last year’s election, which it described as “indisputably scandalous”.
“The Court pointed out that Gadon, unfortunately, failed to realize that lawyers are expected to avoid scandalous behavior, whether in their public or private life,” the public information office said.
Gadon — who backed Marcos’s bid for the presidency last year and failed in his own attempt to win a Senate seat — was previously convicted and suspended from the law for three months for using “offensive and intemperate language”, and faced 10 other administrative cases, the office added.
“Although these cases have yet to be decided, the volume of administrative complaints filed against Atty. Gadon indubitably speaks of his character,” it said.
In a statement posted on Facebook, Gadon said he would appeal the decision because the penalty was “too harsh”.
He claimed the reporter had been “blatantly spreading lies” against Marcos during the 2022 election campaign.
AFP has sought comment from the Presidential Communications Office.
The left-wing Akbayan Party described Gadon as a “buffoon” and called on Marcos to “rescind” his appointment.
