SC rejects Gadon plea vs NTC and House, scolds petitioner
MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court dismissed outright the petition filed by lawyer Larry Gadon seeking to prohibit House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano (Taguig) and the National Telecommunications Commission from issuing ABS-CBN a provisional authority to operate.
Voting unanimously on Tuesday, the SC en banc junked Gadon’s Petition for Prohibition filed on March 5 asking the tribunal to issue a halt order against NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba from complying with the House of Representatives’ letter to the commission.
Gadon — who is not a member of the House and is not connected to NTC or ABS-CBN — insisted in his petition that his case is of “public concern” and “any citizen can be the real party in interest.”
But the SC countered his claim and told him: “Having no legal standing, the Court does not deem it efficient to proceed to deliberate on other issues he raises.”
“The procedural and substantial issues hinted in the Petition will be better adjudicated with the real parties in interest,” part of the ruling, quoted in the SC Public Information Office statement, read.
The petition likewise failed to implead a significant party in the case, the SC noted. Only House officials and NTC were named as respondents, and not ABS-CBN.
Gadon told: Be more circumspect
The SC also did not mince words in reminding Gadon to be “more circumspect” in bringing pleas to the tribunal as it stressed that filing cases before it “is a serious affair.”
“Not only will the overeagerness to file border on the contumacious, it also puts in unnecessary peril the legal arguments of the person or the entity that has an actual case,” it added.
Gadon sought to withdraw his petition citing that it is already moot when the NTC did not heed the House’s letter, but the SC PIO did not mention this in the statement.
The copy of the ruling has yet to be made public as of this story’s posting.
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