BACKLASH
OVER a week after making distasteful statements about slapping the First Lady, ex-congressman Glenn Chong is still getting flak from lawmakers, saying what he did smacks of conduct unbecoming a lawyer and a former member of the House of Representatives.
In the daily press briefing at the House, the so-called “Young Guns” in the chamber said that as a lawyer, Chong should know better than to issue slanderous statements such as what he said about First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, especially during Women’s Month.
“It pains me because the one who made this statement publicly is a lawyer, one who is in the same profession, and it reflects on the legal profession,” said Assistant Majority Leader Raul Angelo “Jil” Bongalon, a lawyer, of Ako Bicol Partylist.
He added that there is grounds for a disbarment case against Chong as he appeared to have violated the Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability (CPRA) for the legal profession.
“It (CPRA) states basically that we have duties not just to our clients, not just to the courts, but to the society in general. Iyun po kasi statement niya against First Lady Marcos is a reflection that is disrespectful, not because the appearances were made against the First Lady, but this attitude reflects towards women in general,” Bongalon said.
He added that the Supreme Court should really look into the behavior of Chong in order to uphold the accountability and integrity of the legal profession.
Chong issued the fiery statement last March 12 in a prayer rally to show support for SMNI and Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, who was ordered arrested by both the Senate and the House of Representatives for failure to appear in their separate congressional investigations.
Assistant Majority Leader and Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said that Chong should remember that he made the distasteful remarks during a prayer rally.
“Ako, from an outsider, ang ine-expect ko really is the messaging is about love, unity. Kasi that’s what the Bible says, right? That’s what Christianity says,” Adiong said.
“And so to have somebody there on the platform speaking about how to mistreat a specific individual regardless of whether she is the First Lady or not is actually the exact opposite of what we from the outside looking at you Christians would hope to hear from you,” Adiong added.
“Coming from a former public servant, it’s not only unbecoming of him as a person but it’s also unbecoming of him as a Filipino and as a Christian,” he said.
Assistant Majority Leader Franscisco Paolo P. Ortega of La Union said Chong’s behavior during the prayer rally speaks of how he treats the women of his life, like his mother, for example.
“I’ll just answer this very short and sweet. Kung paano mo trinatrato ang mga napakaganda, empowered at saka mga mabubuting kababaihan ay repleksiyon iyan kung paano mo trinatrato ang nanay mo. Iyon lang ang masasabi ko,” Ortega said.
The same goes for Deputy Speaker David “Jayjay” C. Suarez of Quezon, who asked how would the women in Chong’s life feel if they were subjected to such verbal attacks.
“Hindi ba disgust, hindi ba galit? I mean he used to be a congressman. What happened to his honorable ‘title’ that he holds? He’s a lawyer, he knows what’s wrong and what’s right. That has no place in Philippine society, to do that on TV, on stage, in front of millions of Filipinos, it has no place,” Suarez said.
Davao Oriental Rep. Cheeno Miguel Almario said that respect for women is a universal language.
“To disrespect one in any private setting is already bad enough, what more when you bring it to the public setting whether there’s media coverage or not. There are people watching that I’m very sure, none of them expected that kind of remark coming from him as well,” Almario said.