Pia hails SC decision on Ang Ladlad

Senator Pia Cayetano today hailed the decision of the Supreme Court to allow the party list group Ang Ladlad to participate in the 2010 elections.

Cayetano, who chairs the Senate Committee on Social Justice, earlier assailed the decision of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to disqualify the group. She said the high court's decision affirmed the poll body's mistake in disqualifying Ang Ladlad on the basis of morality.

"I laud the Supreme Court's decision to recognize Ang Ladlad as a legitimate party list group. This decision guarantees the rights of different groups such as Ladlad to representation", she said.

"The reason used by Comelec to justify the disqualification of 'Ang Ladlad' is unconstitutional; it violates the principle of separation of Church and State," she added.

"Comelec has jurisdiction to approve or disapprove the accreditation of a party-list, but the poll body must base its ruling on legal principles and not on religious beliefs nor on its subjective view of what is moral and what is not."

The SC issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) which directed Comelec to accredit Ang Ladlad among the party list groups for this year's election, and include its name on the ballots.

"May this be a guide to Comelec in their future decisions. Instead of disqualifying legitimate party list groups, Comelec should crackdown on more groups who pose as marginalized representatives, but are actually adjuncts of powerful personalities and interest groups in the Arroyo regime."