Lorenzo “Larry‘ Gadon, the lawyer behind the impeachment complaint against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, speculated that the dismissal of House Deputy Speaker Gwendolyn Garcia was Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales’ act of retaliation for his “zeal” in the proceedings against Sereno. “The zeal and ardent passion of incisive questioning on the witnesses and resource persons in the Sereno impeachment has led the Ombudsman to come out with an order of dismissal of Rep. Gwen Garcia,” Gadon said in a text message to reporters on Monday. Gadon said Garcia’s questioning has “shed light on many issues uncovering the culpable violations of Sereno.”ADVERTISEMENT“And the Ombudsman, as a lap dog of Noynoy [former President Benigno Aquino III], is quick to act in retaliation,” Gadon said. Local authorities, however, later discovered that 196,696 square meters of the property were underwater and part of a mangrove area. Gwen Garcia is being dismissed on a flimsy ground that she signed the contract without the authority being given by the Sanggunian Panlalawigan.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer February 12, 2018 07:07 UTC