Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 27) – Gabriela Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas on Tuesday criticized the recent appointment of Larry Gadon as Presidential Adviser for Poverty Alleviation, citing that he is known to be a purveyor of hate speech and is currently facing disbarment cases.
“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,” Brosas said in a statement.
She added: “It reflects the administration’s clownish approach in addressing hunger and poverty in the country.”
According to Brosas, solving poverty requires finding a solution to the widespread landlessness and joblessness in the country through land reform and establishment of national industries.
Brosas said a creating a new government position and filling it up with “the most unqualified person” is not a step towards such a solution.
“His foul language has no right to be on the presidential payroll. He is also a certified red-tagger, branding those who supported calls for his disbarment as ‘NPA coddler,’” the lawmaker said.
CNN Philippines has reached out to the Presidential Communications Office for comment.
A video showing Gadon calling protesters idiots, cussing and flashing the middle finger went viral in 2018. Bloggers and protesters filed a disbarment case against Gadon, which he then called “crazy.”
In 2019, the Supreme Court suspended Gadon’s license for three months because of his use of “offensive” language towards a dermatologist who filed a complaint against him ten years before.
The controversial lawyer faced another disbarment case in 2021 after saying that former president Noynoy Aquino died from human immunodeficiency virus infection.
Last year, the high court suspended Gadon over his “abhorrent behavior” in another viral video where he used expletives in a rant against journalist Raissa Robles.
