Lawyer Larry Gadon, who gained traction on social media by calling rallyists ‘bobo’ (stupid), hit a snag while filing his candidacy for the May 2019 Senate race on Friday.
He will be running under the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan, a political party associated with late strongman Ferdinand Marcos, but said he had the support of other parties such as the Lakas-CMD.
Gadon was accompanied by members of his family and supporters from a group called the “Community Anti-Crime Group” both of which he described as “hindi bobo.”
Gadon said that he is running because of ‘stupid’ senators from the opposition.
His filing did not go smoothly because of a snag where it was discovered that he submitted a form that missed one particular item.
The former member of House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s legal team explained that he had forgotten to submit enough identification pictures, but COMELEC officials later told the media that Gadon had in fact submitted the wrong form and had to resubmit the documents.
Commission on Elections spokesperson James Jimenez in an interview explained that candidates from the first day of filing had also encountered the problem on the form because of the item that asks candidates if they had ever been convicted of an offense that carried perpetual disqualification as a penalty.
His entry into the midterm elections is not a surprise to most citizens, given how he has regularly appeared in headlines prior to his candidacy. Some are still apprehensive because of his past controversial statements.
Officially a candidate
Gadon in April 2018 was criticized for hurling expletives and raising his middle finger at supporters of Maria Lourdes Sereno at the Supreme Court’s summer court house in Baguio during the Quo Warranto proceedings against her.
It was Gadon who filed the impeachment complaint against the ousted magistrate in 2017, alleging that she had failed to be truthful in her Statement of Liabilities, Assets and Net worth.
The tirade drew disbarment complaints from the groups who chastised him for his actions. He has received a total of four such complaints.
He was previously the subject of intense criticism after he supported the killing of Muslims during a live television interview in 2016, citing the problem of Islamic extremists. He also received disbarment complaints for the statements.
In the months leading up to the period for the filing of candidacy, Gadon appeared in videos circulated on social media where he could be seen with students from various universities, emphatically declaring the students “hindi bobo” (stupid).
The clip of Gadon’s tirade against the Sereno supporters had also been used for memes and humorous content floating through social media.