Gadon to SC: ‘Disbar Theodore Te, not me’

KILUSAN ng Bagong Lipunan (KBL) senatorial candidate and maverick lawyer, Larry Gadon, called on the Supreme Court to “disbar” Atty. Theodore Te for “unscrupulous practice of law” instead of him even as he described his present indefinite suspension by the SC as “politically motivated.”

In a statement on January 19, 2022, a day after portions of the decision by the Second Division of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) was released by the camp of leading presidential candidate, former Sen. Ferdinand ‘Bongbong/BBM’ Marcos, Gadon said Te “should be ashamed of himself” for joining the petitioners in attempting to mislead the Comelec, “which is akin to a court of law with respect to election cases.”

Based on the Comelec decision that junked the petitions filed by the group of Te and Catholic priest, Christian Buenafe, to cancel Marcos’ certificate of candidacy (CoC), the poll body also flayed the petitioners for their “deliberate” effort to “deceive” the commission into granting their request.

In his statement, Gadon pointed out that Te and his group “deliberately misquoted the law (the 1977 Tax Code), which clearly stated that the penalty imposable on the non-filing of income tax returns (ITRs) should be ‘fine OR imprisonment OR both.”

“Petitioners changed the “OR” to “AND” to make it appear that the application of the penalty of imprisonment is mandatory,” Gadon pointed out.

“They knowingly misrepresented, misquoted and invoked the 1997 Tax Code, which only took effect in 1998 to apply to these cases,” Gadon added.

“This should not be the case because the Constitution prohibits ‘ex post facto laws,’ or the retroactive application of penal laws to the detriment of the accused.”

Gadon further enumerated the deceptions and other immoral means used by the group of Buenafe and Te to mislead the Comelec, saying:

“They branded the cases against BBM as ‘tax evasion cases’ when he was only charged for ‘failure to file tax returns’ and he was acquitted by the CA (Court of Appeals) for the charge for failure to pay tax because as a former government employee, he was under the withholding tax system. So, his tax liabilities are withheld by the government, there is no tax evasion to speak of.”

“Si Atty. Te, ay hindi naman siguro bobo. Since he touts himself as a human rights lawyer, and a criminal law professor at the University of the Philippines, he should be very familiar with the Bill of Rights under the 1987 Constitution which prohibits ‘ex post facto laws.’”

“Si Atty. Te, ay hindi naman siguro bobo,” Gadon added.

“Since he touts himself as a human rights lawyer, and a criminal law professor at the University of the Philippines, he should be very familiar with the Bill of Rights under the 1987 Constitution which prohibits ‘ex post facto laws.’

He obviously should know the difference between the terms ‘OR’ and ‘AND’ and the legal implications of their use.

“Obviously, magkaiba ang “multa O kulong” sa “multa AT kulong.” ‘Dun sa nauna, puwedeng mamili ang korte kung multa O kulong ang ipapataw (na parusa) pero, sa pangalawa, dapat sabay na ipapataw ang Multa At Kulong.

In calling for Te’s disbarment, Gadon also stressed that as the lawyer for the petitioners, Te, a former spokesman of the SC, is “obviously” the one who drafted the petition.

“And when he placed his signature therein, he guaranteed that the legal arguments it contained are based on what the law says.

“Both the Lawyer’s Oath and Rule 10.01 of the Code of Ethics for lawyers require that the lawyer shall not do any falsehood nor consent to the doing of any falsehood in court,” Gados stressed.

“Atty. Te should be disbarred for his unscrupulous practice of law,” Gadon said.

Suspension ‘politically motivated’

Meanwhile, Gadon maintained that the ‘indefinite suspension’ meted on him by the Supreme Court effective last January 4, 2022, was “politically motivated,” hinting the highest court was swayed by some sections of the mainstream media, especially those with connections abroad.

Gadon was ordered suspended by the SC and given 10 days to explain why he should no be disbarred after his rants against online journalist, Raissa Robles last December 12, 2021, went viral in social media.

The day he was suspended, Gadon had earlier issued a statement calling on Associate Justices Marivic Leonen and Alfredo Caguioa, to “refund” Marcos of the P200 million he deposited to the court over his vice-presidential protest against Vice President Leni Robredo over the result of the 2016 elections.

“Justices Caguioa and Marivic Leonen must be held personally liable for the refund since the long delays can be attributed to the two of them,” Gadon averred (see also Pinoy Exposé article of January 5, 2022).

Gadon ranted against Robles, an editor at ‘Rappler,’ an anti-government online news service, for promoting the falsehood that Marcos had not settled his tax obligations, the main argument behind the petitions filed by the group of Buenafe and Te.

“It (suspension) was actually politically motivated; there is no reason for my immediate preventive suspension as there was no formal complaint, except for the letter of FOCAP (Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines). Is the SC (now) acting on a mere letter,” Gadon asked.

“I did not upload the video on the Internet. It was sent to Robles in a ‘private manner.’ Raisa was the one who uploaded it,” Gadon said.

“The video was directed (against) a private person, the transgression if any, is toward a private person. No transgression was made against the judiciary for it to take cudgels on behalf of Robles,” he added.

“Take note that Raisa is not totally innocent, she was spreading lies against Bongbong Marcos.  Does the law reward those who tell lies to the public,” Gadon said.

Gadon also raised the previous machination of lawyer Chel Diokno, who misrepresented a group of fishermen when the issue of the anti-terrorism law is being deliberated at the Supreme Court.

“Diokno lied to the Supreme Court, the transgression was directed to the judicial and legal process. But was he suspended or punished,” Gadon asked.

“It appears that our judicial system rewards those who lie against the judicial process while punishing those who retaliate against liar reporters on matters of political issues,” he said.

Gadon also maintained that it was Leonen and Caguioa who worked behind the scene to have him suspended and possibly, disbarred.

“It was politically motivated because I have openly criticized AJ Caguioa and AJ Marivic Leonen for the delays in the BBM electoral protest and for issuing statements that they should refund the P200 million paid by BBM as protest fees.

“Caguioa and Leonen are the proponents of the preventive suspension. Politically motivated very obvious.

He also bewailed that the SC immediately announcing his suspension was not in accordance with the court’s own rules.

“Proceedings on suspension and disbarment are confidential in nature, that is according to the rules. Publication is not allowed until finality. Why did the SC publish it even if it is only preventive and not yet final?

What could be the motive or intention of the proponents,” Gadon wondered.