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Lawyer claims Leonen impeachment complaint not tied to Bongbong protest


Lawyer Lorenzo Gadon on Monday said there was "no connection" between the impeachment complaint he filed against Supreme Court (SC) Justice Marvic Leonen and former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr.'s election protest against Vice President Leni Robredo.

Gadon, a Marcos supporter, represents Edwin Cordevilla, the complainant who asked the House of Representatives to impeach Leonen. Ilocos Norte Representative Angelo Marcos Barba, Marcos' cousin, endorsed the complaint.

But Gadon claimed there was no link between the impeachment move and the Marcoses.

“Congressman Barba endorsed this because the complainant is his constituent in his own district, so that’s the only connection,” the once-suspended lawyer said at a press conference.

"The case of the PET of BBM has not been mentioned here. There's no connection," he said.

The Marcos camp, for its part, said it "will not dignify" speculation that they were involved.

"We will not dignify those wild speculation and it would be inappropriate to make a comment on an event or a case where we are not a party," said Vic Rodriguez, Marcos' spokesperson.

Leonen is the justice-in-charge of Marcos' four-year-old challenge to Robredo's victory in the 2016 elections. Marcos tried, unsuccessfully, to have Leonen inhibit from the case on allegations of bias and delay.

This time, Gadon on behalf of his client is accusing Leonen of slow case disposition and a failure to file his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) for years when he was a law professor at the University of the Philippines.

Leonen expressed confidence that lawmakers would "do the right thing."

"Certainly, this may not be the time to attend to false issues raised by some for clearly personal or vindictive reasons," he said.

Two years ago, the SC ousted its chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno for her alleged failure to file her own mandatory wealth declarations when she taught at UP.

Solicitor General Jose Calida initiated the ouster bid against Sereno through quo warranto, and he attempted the same against Leonen this year by requesting copies of his SALN from the SC.

The SC denied his request.

Calida, who campaigned for Marcos in 2016, also moved for Leonen's inhibition from the election protest. The SC, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, rejected his and Marcos' motions.

Amid allegations of collusion, Bongbong claimed that he was "in no discussions" with Calida.

But he said he was communicating with Gadon, who had also requested copies of Leonen's SALN from the SC.

"Yung kay Atty. Larry Gadon inaawat ko nga siya. I was telling him, wag muna, wag muna, wag muna until lumabas nga 'yung comments galing sa Comelec at saka sa SolGen. Naging maliwanag na panlilinlang talaga ang ginagawa ni Justice Leonen so nagfile na siya, nag-ano na siya para sa SALN," Bongbong said on November 9. -NB, GMA News

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