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. 鈥擭oy Morcoso/黑料社
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� What the Supreme Court has repeatedly censured and penalized, the Palace still considers quality TV.
Malaca帽ang is tapping disbarred lawyer Larry Gadon鈥攖he 鈥渁ntipoverty czar鈥� of the Marcos administration鈥攆or 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 鈥淟arry Gadon Live,鈥� which he said would help disseminate information about various government programs and accomplishments, as well as other 鈥渢rending topics.鈥�
READ: Strike 2 at Supreme Court for Marcos 鈥榓ntipoverty czar鈥� 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 鈥渇alsehoods鈥� 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.
鈥楳ake them sing鈥�
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鈥檚 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聽 Cheloy Garafil 鈥擲enate PRIB
In his TV interview on Tuesday on the government program 鈥淏agong Pilipinas Ngayon,鈥� Gadon said he would be interviewing officials of various agencies so they could 鈥渇urther explain鈥� their respective initiatives. 鈥淸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.鈥�
鈥淚 will try to make my guests sing and I will also sing so that we can have some fun in the program,鈥� 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 鈥淟arry Gadon Live鈥� for more direct forms of public service, 鈥渂ut we may need more than an hour. So in the meantime, we will just be talking about the programs of the administration.鈥�
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 鈥渋s 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.鈥�