Ang Ladlad, the political party that attempted to represent the LGBT community in the House of Representatives through the partylist system, was delisted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
In Resolution 9932, promulgated on February 12, Ang Ladlad was one of the 39 partylist organizations delisted by Comelec for not getting a seat in the second round of seat allocation for the partylist system in the last two preceding elections.
Under Section 6 (8) of Republic Act No. 7941 (or the Party-List System Act), Comelec may cancel the registration of a party, organization, or coalition for failure to participate in the last two preceding elections or fails to obtain at least two per centum (2%) of the votes cast under the partylist system in the two preceding elections for the constituency in which it has registered.
Comelec also cancelled the registration of the organization.
The partylist system is a mechanism of proportional representation in the election of representatives to the House of Representatives from marginalized or underrepresented parties, organizations or coalitions registered with the Comelec.
It is part of the electoral process that enables small political parties and marginalized and underrepresented sectors to obtain possible representation in Congress.
Ang Ladlad particularly made waves in 2009, when it was refused accreditation by Comelec to run in the May 2010 elections because the LGBT partylist “tolerates immorality which offends religious beliefs”. At that time, Comelec also specifically cited verses in the Bible and in the Koran to justify its refusal to accredit Ang Ladlad.
The Supreme Court (SC) overturned Comelec, paving the way for Ang Ladlad to seek Congressional seat/s. In its ruling, the SC stated that “moral disapproval, without more, is not a sufficient governmental interest to justify exclusion of homosexuals from participation in the party-list system. The denial of Ang Ladlad’s registration on purely moral grounds amounts more to a statement of dislike and disapproval of homosexuals, rather than a tool to further any substantial public interest”.
Ang Ladlad failed to win enough votes during the 2010 elections, receiving only 113,187 votes (0.37%), which was below the two percent threshold needed for a partylist to get a seat in Congress.
For the May 2013 elections, Ang Ladlad again failed to win a single seat in Congress, ending up with 100,666 votes (0.35%), which is 0.04 percent less than the number of votes it gained it 2010.
Comelec’s Resolution 9932 was signed by Christian Robert S. Lim, acting chairman, and commissioners Al. A. Parreno, Luie Tito F. Guia, and Arthur D. Lim.
