HR watchdog to Comelec: Reverse Ang Ladlad ruling

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) should immediately accept Ang Ladlad party’s petition to participate in the 2010 elections because its job is to defend public freedom, not to set itself up as a moral arbiter, a human rights watchdog said yesterday.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch said Comelec should immediately reverse its decision denying a political party representing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Filipinos from taking part in May elections.

Last Nov. 11, the Comelec’s second division denied Ang Ladlad’s petition to be registered as a political party on the grounds that it “tolerates immorality, which offends religious beliefs.”

The watchdog said the ruling “violates rights to participate in public life and protection against discrimination under Philippine and international laws.”

Dipika Nath, a researcher in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch, said the Comelec’s rejection of Ang Ladlad’s petition on the grounds of “sexual orientation is an ominous breach of its democratic obligations… Prejudice and fear should not be permitted to shut people out of the political process.”

The watchdog also criticized the Comelec for excluding a party representing the LGBT community and labeling it as immoral while allowing former general Jovito Palparan, a military officer implicated in extrajudicial killings that were the subject of a government investigation, to represent party-list Bantay.

Commission on Human Rights chairperson Leila de Lima has spoken out strongly against the Comelec’s ruling. Human Rights Watch called on Comelec to reverse its decision before Dec. 1, the final date to qualify for listing in the May 2010 elections.

Ang Ladlad was formed in 2003 as a network for LGBT people and their supporters. It has regional chapters throughout the country and a membership of over 22,000 nationwide.