Presidential anti-poverty czar Larry Gadon holds a press briefing on Friday, May 24, 2024, in Quezon City in relation to the Supreme Court order to fine him P150,000 for perjury. —Noy Morcoso/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — What the Supreme Court has repeatedly censured and penalized, the Palace still considers quality TV.
Malacañang is tapping disbarred lawyer Larry Gadon—the “antipoverty czar” of the Marcos administration—for its communications campaign by giving him a self-titled weekly television show.
In a TV interview on Tuesday, Gadon, the presidential adviser on poverty alleviation, announced his new show titled “Larry Gadon Live,” which he said would help disseminate information about various government programs and accomplishments, as well as other “trending topics.”
READ: Strike 2 at Supreme Court for Marcos ‘antipoverty czar’ Gadon
The pilot episode is scheduled to air on the state-run PTV network today, a week after the Supreme Court found Gadon guilty of perjury and slapped him with a P150,000 fine for committing “falsehoods” and making accusations based on hearsay in the impeachment complaint filed in the House of Representatives against then Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno in 2018.
‘Make them sing’
The high tribunal in 2023 voted unanimously to disbar Gadon for cursing and hurling profanities against journalist Raissa Robles, actions captured in a video that went viral.
The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) did not reply to Inquirer queries regarding Gadon’s newly given platform, like whether he could still be considered an effective messenger for government programs, given the repeated sanctions from the Supreme Court.
PCO chief Cheloy Garafil —Senate PRIB
In his TV interview on Tuesday on the government program “Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon,” Gadon said he would be interviewing officials of various agencies so they could “further explain” their respective initiatives. “[W]e really need to help the President explain his accomplishments to the people and we know that communication plays a vital role, so this is what we will do.”
“I will try to make my guests sing and I will also sing so that we can have some fun in the program,” he said.
According to Gadon, he conceptualized the one-hour program together with PCO chief Cheloy Garafil and the presidential adviser for strategic communications, Cesar Chavez.
First guests
His first guests will be officials of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), who will be talking about its new programs, he said.
He welcomed suggestions to use “Larry Gadon Live” for more direct forms of public service, “but we may need more than an hour. So in the meantime, we will just be talking about the programs of the administration.”
Presidential adviser for strategic communications Cesar Chavez
As to his own office, the presidential adviser conceded it may not have much to discuss at length since it “is more of an advisory (office) and much of the mandate is performed by many agencies, such as the DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) and many other agencies, because each agency has its program for poverty alleviation.”