Lawyer Larry Gadon, the man who filed the impeachment complaint against Chief Justice-on-leave Ma. Lourdes Sereno, tangled with pro-Sereno supporters who booed him when he arrived at the Supreme Court summer courthouse on Tuesday (April 10). Photo by EV Espiritu
The accuser of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on Thursday lashed out at the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) after its president said he could get disbarred for cursing and showing his middle finger to the top magistrate’s supporters in Baguio City recently.
“I don’t care if I am disbarred. I will still eat delicious food and live comfortably. I don’t depend on income from lawyering alone, unlike some IBP officials,” lawyer Lorenzo Gadon said in a statement.
Before the start of the oral arguments on the quo warranto petition against Sereno on Tuesday, Gadon was seen on video making the obscene gesture after the protesters taunted him.
Ground for disbarment
This prompted IBP president Abdiel Fajardo to say such actions could be a ground for disbarment.
The IBP official was quoted in news reports as saying: “So if a lawyer, you know, in his public or private life conducts himself in a scandalous manner, a complainant may look at it and file an ethics complaint.”
‘Abetting illegal acts’
Gadon is facing two disbarment complaints, the most recent of which accuses him of showing dishonesty, arrogance and rudeness during the impeachment hearing against Sereno at the House of Representatives.
The lawyer was the complainant in the Sereno impeachment case.
In his statement, Gadon also threatened to file a disbarment case against IBP officials.
“Because their act of support can be considered as abetting the illegal acts of Sereno, they are upholding the violation of the Constitution by Sereno, therefore they are also liable for violating the code of ethics,” he said.
“I don’t care if I am disbarred as long as Sereno is removed,” Gadon said. —DJ YAP