Yesterday, April 8, 2010, the Philippine Supreme Court released its decision regarding the petition for certiorari filed by Ang Ladlad LGBT Party (with regards to the decision of the Commission on Elections refusing accreditation to the LGBT group and therefore denying the party its participation in the May 2010 National Elections on grounds of morality and on the belief that homosexuals are a threat to the youth); the Court grants the petition.
Part of the Supreme Court decision reads
“We thus find that it was grave violation of the non-establishment clause for the COMELEC to utilize the Bible and the Koran to justify the exclusion of Ang Ladlad.
… we hold 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. Respondent’s blanket justifications give rise to the inevitable conclusion that the COMELEC targets homosexuals themselves as a class, not because of any particular morally reprehensible act. It is this selective targeting that implicates our equal protection clause.
Our Decision today is fully in accord with our international obligations to protect and promote human rights. In particular, we explicitly recognize the principle of non-discrimination as it relates to the right to electoral participation, enunciated in the UDHR and the ICCPR. Although sexual orientation is not specifically enumerated as a status or ratio for discrimination in Article 26 of the ICCPR, the ICCPR Human Rights Committee has opined that the reference to “sex” in Article 26 should be construed to include “sexual orientation.”
WHEREFORE, the Petition is hereby GRANTED. The Resolutions of the Commission on Elections dated November 11, 2009 and December 16, 2009 in SPP No. 09-228 (PL) are hereby SET ASIDE. The Commission on Elections is directed to GRANT petitioner’s application for party-list accreditation.”
For a full copy of the Supreme Court ruling, refer to the following link:
http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2010/april2010/190582.htm
Tags: homosexuality, May 2010 Elections, morals, Supreme Court