G.R. No.

190582               April 8, 2010

ANG LADLAD LGBT PARTY, Petitioner, vs. COMELEC, Respondent.
DEL CASTILLO, J.
FACTS:
Ang Ladlad is an organization composed of men and women who identify themselves
as lesbians, gays, bisexuals, or trans-gendered individuals (LGBTs). Incorporated in
2003, Ang Ladlad first applied for registration with the COMELEC in 2006. The
application for accreditation was denied because the organization had no substantial
membership base. Then in 2009, Ang Ladlad again filed for registration arguing that
LGBT is a marginalized sector among other things, but the COMELEC dismissed the
petition on moral grounds.
Ang Ladlad filed a petition with the Court to annul the COMELEC’s Resolutions.
They argued that the denial of accreditation, insofar as it justified the exclusion by using
religious dogma, violated the constitutional guarantees against the establishment of
religion.
ISSUE:
Whether Ang Ladlad’s application for party-list accreditation should be granted.
RULING:
Yes. Ang Ladlad’s application for party-list accreditation should be granted as
denial amounts to violation of the constitutional guarantees.
As explicitly ruled in Ang Bagong Bayani-OFW Labor Party v. COMELEC "the
enumeration of marginalized and under-represented sectors is not exclusive". The
crucial element is not whether a sector is specifically enumerated, but whether a
particular organization complies with the requirements of the Constitution and RA 7941.
Art. III, Sec. 5 of the Constitution provides that "[n]o law shall be made respecting an
establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." At bottom, what our
non-establishment clause calls for is "government neutrality in religious
matters." Clearly, "governmental reliance on religious justification is inconsistent with
this policy of neutrality." Thus, the Court found 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.
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.
Petition is GRANTED.