‘Liar’ tag irks Gadon in forum

“LIAR.”

This was the word uttered by a student of the University of San Carlos (USC) that angered senatorial candidate Larry Gadon of the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) and prompted him to ask organizers of the candidates’ forum held in the school to bring the pupil out or he would be the one to walk out of the venue.

The student called Gadon a “liar” after the candidate said there was no corruption during the presidency of Ferdinand E. Marcos.

This led Gadon to say he could debate with anyone in the audience but not during the “Klarohay ta!” candidates’ forum of the Mega Cebu because he was just obeying rules set by the organizers.

“Since there is a rule here, may I request the forum organizers to bring this guy outside? If not, I will be the one to walk out,” Gadon said.

The organizers tried to convince the student to get out for being disrespectful to a candidate, but the student refused. Other students said they would also walk out if the student would be forced to leave the venue.

Host Dante Luzon told the student to get out, while another host, Caroline Ballesteros, urged Gadon to just give him a warning.

It took the other senatorial candidates present in the forum, namely, lawyers Antonio “Butch” Valdez of Katipunan ng Demokratikong Pilipino, Marcelino Arias of Labor Party Philippines and Danilo Roleda of the United Nationalist Alliance Party, to convince Gadon to just give the student a warning.

In the forum, the student called Gadon a “liar” after the candidate, belonging to the Marcos political party KBL, said there was no corruption during the administration of Marcos who was ousted in the People Power revolution in 1986.

Gadon said Marcos built several infrastructure projects that are still being enjoyed by Filipinos and had only a few billion dollars in foreign loans. He said the government of Corazon Aquino, brought to power after the revolt, had triple the amount of foreign loan and her projects could not be seen.

Forum organizer Evelyn Nacario Castro said Gadon told the audience “Hindi kayo bobo” (“You are not dumb”) which, to her, meant Gadon was telling students they are mature enough to vote wisely. Castro said the audience understood what Gadon meant and she was shocked when the student called Gadon a “liar.”

“I was shocked because we expected civility between candidates and the audience,” Castro said.