[Pink News] Support Ang Ladlad!

There is a gay vote in the Philippines. While Ang Ladlad may not be the only organization representing the LGBT community in the Philippines, they're the first to attempt to gain party-list accreditation here, but have been denied by the COMELEC as of February 28, 2007.

The grounds of the denial are somewhat ridiculous - that supposedly Ang Ladlad could not adequately prove it was national in scope. The blogosphere debates have begun to determine what exactly the denial meant - does it mean that the COMELEC think that the LGBT community is not present in all parts of the country or are they specifically referring to just Ang Ladlad as an organization and that it doesn't have something like "registered" members in all sectors.

But how often is this clause invoked? We've seen some pretty weird party-list organizations spring up like that anti-drug organization MAD (Mamamayan Ayaw sa Droga) that made it as a party-list but before the elections we had never heard of it. Of course it had celebrities, and I suppose they help prove "national" representation. Can we go about challenging every accredited party-list to see if they have local chapters all over the country? How many chapters are needed in order to prove national scope adequately?

The denial raises too many questions, something that Inquirer columnist Manuel L. Quezon III discussed in Prove it's a lie.

At the end of his piece, he calls for memebers of the Philippine LGBT community to make their voices heard and support Ang Ladlad this week by contacting the COMELEC in order to prove that Ang Ladlad does indeed have a scope that is national in size and thus they deserve party-list accredidation in the coming elections. He writes thus:

So write or call the Comelec officials to tell them you support Ang Ladlad, that you want to vote for it, that you intend to back it and that you want it to receive accreditation. Either the Comelec or Ang Ladlad was lying—and the way to prove who’s lying is not to take the Comelec’s slander lying down.

Call Commissioner Florentino Tuason at 527-3225. Also, call the Comelec hotline numbers at 525-9295, 525-9294, 525-9302, 525-9334, 525-9335 and 525-9345. If you’re outside Metro Manila, call your regional Comelec office. National Capital Region: 527-9624 or 527-0846; Cordillera Administrative Region: (074) 304-2444, Region 1 (072) 888-3145, Region 3: (045) 961-5015, Region 4: (02) 527-0835, Region 5: (052) 245-5147, (052) 480-4812, (052) 245-5807, Region 6: (033) 337-4124, (033) 338-1450, Region 7: (032) 416-9773, (032) 416-9774, Region 8: (053) 321-2045, Region 9: (062) 992-0519, (062) 991-2653, Region 10: (088) 350-3512, (088) 858-6269, Region 11: (082) 297-7221, (082) 297-3847, Region 12: (064) 390-2469, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao: (062) 991-4011, Caraga:(088) 342-4976. Or if you’re overseas, call your nearest embassy or consulate.

Fax a note to the Comelec at 525-9301. Write chairman@comelec.gov.ph or comm_tuason@comelec.gov.ph, or to Commissioners Tuason, Sarmiento, and Ferrer at this address: 8/F Palacio del Gobernador, Commission on Elections, Gen. Luna St., Intramuros, Manila 1002

Leave a comment online in the Comelec’s blogs: “inside the comelec” (http://comelec.wordpress.com/), “james jimenez” (http://jimenez.wordpress.com/), and “Overseas Absentee Internet Voting” (http://oaiv.wordpress.com/)

If you believe Ang Ladlad should be accredited as a party list, you have this week to express support and add your voice to those questioning the decision of the Comelec Second Division. One call. One fax. One e-mail.

Photo linked from The Lab's photostream