MANILA, Philippines — Online posting of malicious information or videos—if caught by the authorities and proven in court—could certainly cause trouble to any person, as in the case of erstwhile lawyer and current presidential adviser for poverty alleviation Lorenzo ‘Larry’ Gadon who was disbarred after the Supreme Court (SC) found him guilty of gross misconduct for committing perjury and making accusations based on hearsay.

Now its Atty. Herminio ‘Harry’ Roque Jr.’s turn with disbarment proceedings filed against the former spokesperson of ex-President Rodrigo ‘Digong’ Duterte over a malicious Facebook post that links incumbent President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. to the viral ‘polvoron’ video.

However, Roque dismissed the disbarment case against him as merely a “desperate act (for) attention” so something like this should not be made public as it only place those behind it in ridicule.

But the disbarment complaint has been filed by no less than former acting Cabinet secretary Melvin Matibag who described the video posting that showed a man sniffing what was obviously cocaine as ‘fake’.

Yet Roque insisted that “(people) should understand the posting of the video on social media is protected by free speech under the privileged doctrine as it involves a serious disease of a President that deserves an admission or denial.”

He also pointed out that “the polvoronic video is a national security matter (that affects) the lives and future of millions of Filipinos.

Duterte’s beleaguered spokesperson likewise accused the House of Representatives Quad Committee of ‘crushing’ him because of the polvoron video.

“Sa lahat ng ito, isa lang ang sigurado: Pinupulbos ako ng Quad Committee dahil sa polvoronic video. Ayon na rin ito mismo sa mga dating kasamahan ko sa Kamara,” he stressed.

On the other hand, Matibag that with the viral ‘polvoron’ video established as fake, he claimed that his revelations and filing of disbarment against Roque was not politically motivated.

“Atty. Harry Roque and I are friends, and there’s nothing to do about politics or personal. As I said earlier, I want to help the judicial system come out with a jurisprudence for us lawyers to be guided on how to behave on social media,” the former Cabinet official disclosed.

He added that a ‘maximum penalty’ should be given to Roque, thus the filing of a disbarment complaint, since the latter is an expert in the law.

“Mas mataas ang aming responsibility as an officer of the court, as a lawyer, kaysa ordinaryong gumagamit ng Facebook at social media,” Matibag concluded.