Update 2 ( This version adds info and quotes. – Editors)
Lawyer Larry Gadon, who once skyrocketed to popularity on social media after several short clips showed him saying “Hindi sila bobo (They are not stupid)” shoutouts to students and groups of people, has filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) for senator — but used a wrong form.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Friday asked him to re-file his COC since the old form he used did not have the newly-added item number 22.
This item asks the candidate if he has been found liable for an offense that has a penalty of perpetual disqualification to vie for a government position.
Lawyer Lorenzo “Larry” Gadon. PHOTO/ Faye Orellana, INQUIRER.net
But when asked if he used a wrong form in filing his COC, Gadon said: “Wala naman (Nothing). I did not fill up the wrong form.”
Gadon initially showed up at the filing area of the Comelec and sat down to answer the COC. However, he suddenly disappeared for around an hour before returning to the filing area.
Asked why he took such a long time before going back to file his candidacy, he told reporters that he just had to get some additional photos to be used for the form.
But a secretariat at the Comelec who declined to be named said that Gadon did file a wrong form.
Comelec Spokesperson James Jimenez also confirmed this, saying he talked with the lawyer who facilitated Gadon’s document at the filing area.
“He assured me that the form was the incorrect one,” Jimenez said, referring to the lawyer. “The form he submitted in the first instance is not the form he should have submitted.”
Before going inside the main building of the Comelec, he expressed strong confidence that he would win in the 2019 elections.
“Ang sambayanang Pilipino ay iboboto ako dahil hindi ako bobo at iboboto nila ako dahil hindi sila bobo,” he said.
Gadon is also the one who filed the impeachment complaint against former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.
He also hogged the headlines for hurling curses and raising his middle finger against sympathizers of Sereno./ac