The Philippine Online Chronicles

Last November 11, the Second Division of Commission of Elections rejected the application of Ang Ladlad to become an accredited party list on the grounds of morality and the Catholic and Muslim faiths. However, Ang Ladlad in no way violated any grounds stated in the Party-list Law (Republic Act No. 7941) for the removal or cancelation of an entity.

Sec. 6. Removal and/or Cancellation of Registration. - The COMELEC may motu proprio or upon verified complaint of any interested party, remove or cancel, after due notice and hearing, the registration of any national, regional or sectoral party, organization or coalition on any of the following grounds:

• It is a religious sect or denomination, organization or association organized for religious purposes;
• It advocates violence or unlawful means to seek its goal;
• It is a foreign party or organization;
• It is receiving support from any foreign government, foreign political party, foundation, organization, whether directly or through any of its officers or members or indirectly through third parties for partisan election purposes;
• It violates or fails to comply with laws, rules or regulations relating to elections;
• It declares untruthful statements in its petition;
• It has ceased to exist for at least one (1) year; or
• It fails to participate in the last two (2) preceding elections or fails to obtain at least two percentum (2%) of the votes cast under the party-list system in the two (2) preceding elections for the constituency in which it has registered.

Source: http://www.chanrobles.com/republicactno7941.htm

Lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender (LGBT) make up a good percentage of the Philippine population. Their sector is marginalized because discrimination and, in some cases, violence are still a threat to them. These are also partly the reasons why there are so many closet gays and lesbians. The Second Division acted as guardians of morality by rejecting Ang Ladlad which represents the LGBT, using their pre-existing biases and stereotypes about the lifestyle of the Third Sex. LGBT have different lifestyles and moralities and the rejection of their application is a prime example of why they need to be represented in Congress.

Instead, COMELEC continues to accepts sham party-lists which do not represent the marginalized sector. Religious groups and pro-administration or Kamaganak Inc. disguised as pro-poor pro-labor parties were accredited before and they continue to receive the benefits of representation in Congress especially their pork barrel. Kasangga which is represented by Lourdes Arroyo, the sister of First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, and Bantay which is represented by Jovito Palparan are just two examples of sham party-lists. The underrepresented and marginalized groups such as LGBT and overseas filipino workers remain to be ignored.

COMELEC should stop acting as our morality police. It is not part of their duties and responsibilities. We already have religious groups who tell us what we must or must not do, who to emulate or abhor, and which candidates to support or abandon. We do not need another group who does the same.

I was invited last night for the launch of Bagong Botante (http://bagongbotante.ph) and I asked James Jimenez, spokesperson of the COMELEC, questions about the Second Division’s rejection of Ang Ladlad. According to him, the Division decided against Ang Ladlad because of their sector’s lifestyle and orientation, that representing the LGBT “ay makakasama sa bayan” because of their immorality. Mr. Jimenez has a different opinion on the Second Division’s decision but he is not a part of the deciding body. The Second Division violated R.A. 7941 and that makes their rejection unlawful and invalid. Mr. Jimenez suggests that Ang Ladlad should file a motion for reconsideration but I suggest that COMELEC Chair Jose Melo should overrule the Second Division’s verdict.

Video of Interview with James Jimenez

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Photo by Author. Ang Ladlad yahoogroups logo uploaded by Loisy to Wikipilipinas.org. Use of this image is believed to be free under Philippine fair use law.