SC to Comelec: Include gay group on ballot for May polls

The Supreme Court has stopped the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from implementing two decisions that denied party-list accreditation to Ang Ladlad, a group representing the interests of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals. Through a temporary restraining order (TRO), the high court disallowed the poll body from implementing its November 11 and December 17, 2009 resolutions. The first resolution by the Comelec’s Second Division denied Ang Ladlad’s application for party-list accreditation, claiming that the group was advocating “immorality" and that homosexuals were a “threat to the youth." The second decided by the Comelec en banc junked with finality the group’s appeal to overturn the first ruling. In the same ruling, the high court also ordered the Comelec to include Ang Ladlad’s name on the ballots that will be printed by the poll body starting January 25 for the May elections. "If later on, if the deadline of the Comelec to include in the list passes, and Ang Ladlad is not there, and later on the Court decides that the party-list Ladlad should be included, then it must be very difficult if not impossible to again include them," said Supreme Court spokesman and deputy court administrator Jose Midas Marquez during Tuesday's press conference at the Supreme Court building in Manila.

For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV The TRO’s effectivity is “indefinite," according to Marquez. “It is indefinite until (the high court) decides to lift the order or decides on the case of Ang Ladlad," Marquez told GMANews.TV in a phone interview Tuesday night. Marquez said the high court gave the Comelec until Monday, January 11, to comment on the TRO. “But we haven’t received any comment from the Comelec until yesterday (Monday)," said Marquez. Last January 4, Ang Ladlad filed a 26-page petition with the Supreme Court seeking the reversal of the Comelec’s decision, which the group said was tantamount to grave abuse of discretion and violation of the 1987 Constitution, as well as international laws. Ang Ladlad argued in the petition that being gay or lesbian “is neither a sin nor a sickness" and thus should be respected. Ang Ladlad's Danton Remoto welcomed the TRO. He said his group could now campaign for the May elections. "Nung nagpadala ang Comelec nung November ng kanilang decision na Ladlad should not be allowed to run because they are immoral...tawa ko nang tawa. Sabi ko, ano nangyari sa sa Comelec? Ang I.Q. bumagsak...Ayan tuloy, dinampot sa kangkungan," said Remoto in an interview with GMA News on Tuesday. (When the Comelec sent its decision telling us that Ladlad should not be allowed to run because they are immoral...I laughed and laughed. I asked, what happened to Comelec? Its I.Q. fell...As a result, it lost.) If it wins in the polls,Ang Ladlad will fight against the discrimination of gays especially in the labor sector, according to Remoto. - RJAB Jr/ARCS/GMANews.TV