Senatorial candidate Salvador Panelo on Thursday, Feb. 24 hit a law professor for his alleged “bigotry” when he posted a video of fellow senatorial bet Harry Roque dancing while threatening his students to fail them if they end up like the former Palace mouthpiece.
Panelo, the ex-chief presidential legal counsel, defended Roque from lawyer Ryan Quan after the professor posted a tweet-clip of Roque dancing. The post has since been deleted.
“Atty. Quan, there’s nothing wrong with expressing your political views or personal opinions about other people. Your freedom to do so is of course guaranteed by the Constitution, subject to libel laws,” Panelo said.
“But to fail students ‘gladly’ based on your prejudices? Such bigotry has no place in any classroom, much less in a law school that should be teaching respect for others’ beliefs,” he added.
Panelo, himself a lawyer who also served as presidential spokesperson, said Quan’s action was “abusive and coercive, and contrary to the ideals” that Quan’s "esteemed educational institution should stand for".
He called on the school where Quan is teaching at to act on his behavior.
Panelo said there is nothing wrong with a candidate “showing his appreciation and giving joy to the crowd by dancing, singing, or doing what so called ‘highbrow’ members of the electorate may consider silly".