Read this in The Manila Times digital edition.
THE Supreme Court en banc has found disbarred lawyer Larry Gadon guilty of gross misconduct for committing perjury and making accusations based on hearsay.
The Court said Gadon violated the Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability, which prohibits lawyers from making false statements.
“His disregard for the verification requirement in impeachment complaints shows disrespect for the impeachment process, using it to advance his personal agenda rather than air genuine and legitimate grievances,” it said in a statement on Thursday.
For a member of the bar, gross misconduct is punishable by disbarment. However, since Gadon was disbarred on June 28, 2023, for repeatedly uttering curse words and profanities on social media against journalist Raissa Robles, the Court said the penalty of disbarment would not be imposed again.
The Court also imposed a fine of P150,000 on Gadon and declared him ineligible for judicial clemency.
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Gadon, who is presidential adviser on poverty alleviation, shrugged off the Court’s finding, but said the fine was exorbitant and had no basis in jurisprudence.
The decision stemmed from a complaint filed before the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) seeking Gadon’s disbarment for falsehoods in an impeachment complaint he had filed in 2017 against then-Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno before the House of Representatives.
Gadon was also accused of filing baseless criminal cases against several Supreme Court officials.
After investigating the case, the IBP Committee on Bar Discipline recommended that Gadon be suspended for two years for lying under oath when he claimed that Sereno falsified a Supreme Court temporary restraining order (TRO).
However, it dismissed for lack of evidence the allegation of baseless cases against Supreme Court officials.
The IBP Board of Governors later modified to three years the recommended period of suspension.
In its decision, the Court en banc found that Gadon committed perjury for making allegations in his impeachment complaint not based on his knowledge or any authentic records, contrary to his sworn guarantee in the verification attached to his complaint.
The Supreme Court said Gadon knew that he never had any personal knowledge or documents to support the accusation that Sereno falsified a TRO of the Court. Yet, he included this in his verified impeachment complaint, attempting to lend a semblance of credibility to his unfounded accusation.
This not only deceived the House of Representatives, but also revealed an intent to inflict unnecessary harm to the reputation of a lawyer and former member of the Court.
Gadon said he retired from appearing in courts since 2014, and earned more as a corporate executive than as a practicing lawyer, so his disbarment did not affect him financially.
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