Bakla Ako, May Reklamo?

Got this from the Ang Ladlad Community on Livejournal. Let’s all do our part in advancing the representation of the LGBT community to the Congress. 

Not only has the Comelec denied accreditation to Ang Ladlad, it ahs also branded Danton Remoto, who is running for Senate, as a nuisance candidate. This despite the fact that Remoto is ‘a university professor, Fulbright scholar and author of some 20 books…and taught for a year at Rutgers University in New Jersey.’
Apparently Richard Gomez has better credentials.

The Inquirer has an article about it, and I find it funny that the Comelec finds Richard Gomez’ ‘popularity as an actor’ as an indicator of how serious he is to run for the Senate.

Comelec okays 37 senatorial bets
Gay candidate among 42 dubbed nuisance
By Jerome Aning
Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections on Friday approved the senatorial candidacies of 37 people, at the same time declaring 42 others as nuisance candidates.In Resolution No. 7832, all six Commissioners voted to “give due course” to the certificates of candidacy filed by 34 people running under 13 registered political parties and three more running as independents.Among those declared nuisance candidates were Danton Remoto, Theodore Aquino, as well as others described by the commission as “habitual filers,” namely Orlando Abitona, Eduardo Flaminiano, Gherry Guillergan, Daniel Magtira, Manuel Po, Francisco Tajanan, and Camilo Tiqui.Those who made it to the official list, by political affiliation, were:
Kilusang Bagong Lipunan: Joselito Cayetano, Melchor Chavez, Antonio Estrella, Oliver Lozano, Eduardo Orpilla, Ruben Enciso, and Victor WoodNationalist People’s Coalition: Francis Joseph Escudero, Loren Legarda, Vicente Sotto III, and Tessie OretaPartido ng Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan: Aquilino Pimentel III

Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats: Michael Defensor, Vicente Magsaysay, Cesar Montano, Prospero Pichay Jr., Ralph Recto, Luis Singson, and Juan Miguel ZubiriUnited Opposition: Panfilo Lacson, John Henry Osmeña, and Antonio Trillanes IV

Liberal Party: Benigno Aquino III and Francis Pangilinan

Ang Kapatiran Party: Martin Bautista, Zosimo Paredes, and Adrian SisonAksyon Demokratiko: Sonia Roco

Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino: Joker Arroyo

Nacionalista Party: Alan Peter Cayetano, Manuel Villar Jr.

Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino: Edgardo Angara

Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas: Jamalul Kiram III

Philippine Green Republican Party: Felix Cantal

Independents: Anna Dominique Coseteng, Richard Gomez, and Gregorio Honanan

Remoto is an Ateneo de Manila University professor and head of the gay group Ang Ladlad, which earlier failed to secure Comelec accreditation to participate in the party-list elections for the House of Representatives.

Theodore Aquino is a civil engineer and president of the University of the Philippines Alumni Association in the United States. He is a distant cousin of Tarlac Rep. Benigno Aquino III.

The commissioners invoked the body’s power to determine whether or not a candidate is a nuisance, saying they were mindful of the dignity that must be accorded the office of a senator, the minimum qualifications set by the Constitution and electoral laws, the “magnitude of the responsibilities” of a senator, as well as the candidates’ capability to wage a nationwide election campaign.

“There are indications that various certificates were filed to put the election process in mockery or disrepute or to cause confusion among the voters by the similarity of names of the registered candidates or by other circumstances or acts which clearly demonstrate that the candidate had no bona fide intention to run for the office for which the certificate has been filed and thus prevent a faithful determination of the true will of the electorate,” the resolution said.

The commissioners allowed Coseteng and Honasan, former senators, to run again in consideration of their “unquestionable political track records.” They noted Gomez’s being “a very popular actor” and the number of his prominent supporters as proof that he was serious in running for the Senate.

Those who did not make it to the list were told to appear on Monday at Comelec and to “show cause their certificates of candidacy should be given due course.”

In the resolution, Comelec also approved the substitution of Leyte Governor Jericho Petilla by Montano on February 19 and the withdrawal of lawyer Mario Ongkiko as Kapatiran candidate on February 22.

It also disapproved the UNO’s certificate of nomination for Coseteng, saying this was only brought before Comelec on February 16, beyond the filing deadline, which is not allowed under election law.

Comelec also reminded the candidates to submit their drug-test certificates as required by law, saying the law department will compile a list of those without certification on April 11 for eventual publication.

Comelec education and information director James Arthur Jimenez said the list, though official, was not yet considered final as the commission has yet to resolve disqualification cases involving the two Cayetanos and the two Aquinos.

“The list may still be modified depending on the outcome of the cases,” Jimenez said in a phone interview.

During the January 15-February 12 filing period, a total of 80 people went to the law department to file their certificates of candidacy for the 12 senatorial seats that would be vacated on June 30.

Also from the Inquirer:

Gays ready to fight for right to be legislators
By Nikko Dizon
Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines — Aian Yambot, an openly gay nurse, is not a member of Ang Ladlad. Nor could he recall the name of the gay candidate running for senator in the May elections.
But he is all for giving the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) sector a seat in Congress.

So is Dhiane Avelino, a 36-year-old gay man who earns a living by doing home-service manicure and pedicure.

“We need someone who is really good, smart and brave enough to fight for us,” Avelino said.
But Yambot was appalled that Ang Ladlad and senatorial aspirant Danton Remoto were facing major stumbling blocks in their campaign to give equal rights to members of the Philippine gay community.

“I am affected by the Comelec’s decision. It is obviously discrimination against us,” Yambot, a former flight attendant who now teaches at a nursing tutorial school, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net.

Yambot was referring to the decision of the second division of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to junk Ang Ladlad’s petition for party-list accreditation, and to its recent announcement that Remoto — a university professor, Fulbright scholar and author of some 20 books — was among the 42 senatorial aspirants that the poll body considered to be nuisance candidates.

“We need someone in Congress to voice out our rights to avoid discrimination. Our community is growing and there is a sense of awareness among people that gays have a lot to offer society, too. It’s high time that someone from our gender be allowed in Congress,” Yambot said.

Remoto told the Inquirer that he was getting queries from the LGBT community if the “double whammy” was some sort of discrimination against it.

Remoto obviously was slighted that the certificate of candidacy of Richard Gomez, whom the professor described as a “wash-out, has-been actor,” was given due course by the Comelec because “he was accompanied by his supporters.”

Remoto, 43, said that modesty aside, his curriculum vitae would show that aside from teaching English at the Ateneo de Manila University for the past two decades, he had also taught for a year at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

He authored “Ang Ladlad,” the first anthology of gay literature in the country.

Remoto obtained his undergraduate and masteral degrees from the Ateneo, studied in the United States and England, and is now a candidate for a Ph.D. at the University of the Philippines.
But even with an impressive educational background, Remoto said he was not representing just the gay elite and intellectuals.

“We have been going around the communities, even the slums to reach out to the LGBTs,” he said.
Remoto said the Comelec should be “happy and proud” that an openly gay man was running for public office in the Philippines and in Asia, for that matter.

His father, a former military man and lawyer, is campaigning for him, according to Remoto.

Remoto said the LGBTs were raring to take to the streets, or at least rally in front of the Comelec, to show support for him and Ang Ladlad.

“But you’re not seeing any of them yet. There’s no rally by gays because I am telling them that we will exhaust all legal means first,” Remoto said.

On Monday, Ang Ladlad filed a motion for reconsideration asking the Comelec that its petition for party-list accreditation be granted.

On Tuesday, Remoto will join the other nuisance candidates in facing the Comelec en banc to convince the commissioners of his intention to run for a Senate seat.

In its motion for reconsideration, Ang Ladlad said that while Philippine society was “tolerant” of LGBTs, “this does not translate to equality of opportunities and parity before the law.”
Ang Ladlad included a list of its provincial coordinators in 11 of 13 provinces in the country. To date, Ang Ladlad has more than 16,000 members nationwide, excluding the group’s closeted members, according to Remoto.

It also serves as the umbrella organization of 21 LGBT organizations nationwide — from Abra to Metro Manila to Cebu to Zamboanga.Remoto said the Philippines was ready for an openly gay legislator.

* * * * *
Manuel Quezon III, who we all remember fondly from the Great Quezon-Cruz bitchfight of 2006, has also come out with a column about this recent douchebaggery:

THE LONG VIEW
Prove it’s a lie
By Manuel L. Quezon III
Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines- THE PARTY-LIST SYSTEM ACT GIVES COMELEC the power to refuse or cancel the registration of a particular group seeking a seat in the House of Representatives, on eight grounds: (1) it is a religious group or sect; (2) it advocates violence or unlawful means to seek its goal; (3) it is a foreign party; (4) it receives direct or indirect support from a foreign government, political party, or foundation; (5) it violates election-related laws; (6) it declares untruthful statements in its petition; (7) it has ceased to exist for at least one year; and (8) it has failed to obtain at least 2 percent of the votes cast under the partly-list system in the two preceding elections.

A total of 122 party-list groups participated in the 1998 elections, 162 in the 2001 elections, 58 in the 2004 elections. This year, the Comelec recognized 44 party-list groups. Ang Ladlad, which seeks to be the party list for LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered) individuals, was refused accreditation. The Comelec Second Division decided that the petition for registration and accreditation of Ang Ladlad Party should be “denied for lack of merit.” The reason? The commissioners believe Ang Ladlad lied.

The resolution dated Feb. 27, 2007, signed by Presiding Commissioner Florentino A. Tuason Jr. and Commissioners Rene V. Sarmiento and Nicodemo T. Ferrer, said Ang Ladlad gave untruthful statements in the petition it submitted to the commission on Sept. 15, 2006. The commissioners said: “Contrary to petitioner’s allegation in its petition that its membership is national in scope, reports from our field offices reveal that it doesn’t exist in most regions of the country.”

Are Ang Ladlad and the Comelec arguing apples and oranges? That is, does Ang Ladlad believe it not only has a national constituency, but supporters nationwide, a belief that the Comelec says it has proven false, by means of “reports” from its field offices?

If the Comelec believes Ang Ladlad is a figment of its organizers’ imagination; that it is delusional; and that it cannot claim a national constituency on the level, perhaps, of the legions of supporters of such outstanding public servants as Eulogio R. Magsaysay of the Alliance of Volunteer Educators or Rodante Marcoleta of Alagad; or demonstrate to the Comelec’s satisfaction a national machinery on the level of organizations such as The True Marcos Loyalist (for God, Country and People), then by all means the public should do its bit to prove the Comelec wrong.

It’s a good time to do this. Ang Ladlad will be appealing the Comelec decision. Since Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said “the question of constituency is very important especially if you declare your party or organization as a national party with national membership,” then the urgent task is to prove that that constituency exists, and that the constituency is prepared to stand up for itself on a nationwide basis.

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) 527-0835Region 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 1002Leave 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.To his credit, Sen. Ralph Recto said: “[T]he Comelec may have its reasons in denying the accreditation of this party list, but what can’t be denied is that it clearly passes the marginalization criterion, which is the litmus test in party-list accreditation. “Our national policy is clear: “The State shall promote proportional representation in the election of representatives to the House of Representatives through a party-list system of registered national, regional and sectoral parties of organizations or coalitions thereof, which will enable Filipino citizens belonging to marginalized and underrepresented sectors, organizations and parties, and who lack well-defined political constituencies but who could contribute to the formulation and enactment of appropriate legislation that will benefit the nation as a whole, to become members of the House of Representatives. ” Ang Ladlad deserves that opportunity.The contact numbers and websites have been bolded. Guys, do your part. If you know anybody who’s gay–and who doesn’t–please forward the contact information to them. If you are a straight ally, and know of others willing to support the cause, forward it to them as well.

Here’s a sample letter you guys could use:

To : The Chairman / Commisioners Abalos, Tuason, Sarmiento, Ferrer -
COMELECI, together with my family, wish to express our support for the Party List group ANG LADLAD and its representative Professor Danton Remoto.We were hoping to vote for ANG LADLAD or , if it does not get accredited,to vote for Mr. Danton Remoto to the Senate.It is unfortunate that you refuse to accredit ANG LADLAD, as well as declare Prof. Remoto a nuisance candidate.We hope that the Comelec reconsider its position to give our brothers and sisters who belong to the LGBT community a voice in Congress and/or the Senate.Your Name
Your Voter Registration NumberThe fight is far from over.

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