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.
