DAVAO CITY—Macho Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is appalled that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has rejected the application of gay rights group Ang Ladlad to participate in Philippine politics through the party-list system.

“Bigotry of the highest order” was how Duterte, this city’s ultimate symbol of masculinity, described the justification cited by Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer for denying Ang Ladlad’s petition for accreditation.

Even James Jimenez, the Comelec’s own spokesperson, expressed a contrary position to the ruling denying Ang Ladlad’s petition to run as a party-list group in the May 2010 elections.

“On a personal note, I hope [the ruling] will be revoked. And I have confidence in the Comelec that it will see the light,” he told reporters Monday in Manila.

Jimenez disagreed with Ferrer’s earlier quip that there were already gays in Congress and that they were in fact “overrepresented.”

“I believe that the LGBT (lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders) community is in fact marginalized [and] under-represented, and that the country would benefit from hearing its voice (in Congress),” he said.

‘Is that a problem?’

Duterte, a lawyer, said the group led by Ateneo de Manila University professor Danton Remoto should take its case to the Supreme Court.

“I’m very much willing to handle a case to be filed before the Supreme Court. I think they should go to the high court and seek a ruling there,” the Davao City mayor said Monday in his weekly TV program “Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa.”

Addressing Ferrer, he said: “You are lucky because I would have been the first one to lead protest actions against you had I been gay … And what if I am gay? Is that a problem?”

Ferrer, who heads the Comelec’s second division, had said Ang Ladlad advocated “immoral doctrines” that included “intimate and sexual relations with individuals of a different gender, of the same gender, or more than one gender.”

“The advocacy for intimate sexual relations reflected that [Ang Ladlad] tolerates immorality, which offends religious beliefs. This petition is dismissible on moral grounds,” he had said.

Reacting to Ferrer’s remarks, Duterte said: “That statement is bigotry of the highest order. You cannot deny representation to any group. Who are you to deny them? That’s showing your prejudice against them. If Filipinos want to fill Congress with gays, so be it.”

‘This world needs gays’

The mayor pointed out that gays had proven their worth in a discriminating society and should not be judged on the basis of their sexual preference.

“For as long as they have the capability to lead, [they should be allowed to take part in the political system]. And this world needs gays. Look, when your wives need to look beautiful, they run to gays for help,” he said.

He added that Ang Ladlad’s rights were “embodied in freedom of expression,” and that the Comelec position “is not a good policy of the government.”

Ang Ladlad has asked the Comelec to reconsider Ferrer’s ruling.

According to Remoto, the ruling is in violation of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, which states that “the ideal of free human beings enjoying civil and political freedom and freedom from fear and want can only be achieved if conditions are created whereby everyone may enjoy his civil and political rights, as well as his economic, social and cultural rights.”

Public hearing

Jimenez said the Comelec en banc would soon hold a public hearing on Ang Ladlad’s motion for reconsideration.

“They’ll set a hearing and probably, they’re already raffling it off and deciding who should write the decision. We will announce this soon,” he said, adding:

“This is a very crucial issue and I don’t think the Comelec will take its time. We will act on this with dispatch.”

But Jimenez defended the Comelec second division from accusations that it had injected religious doctrines into secular matters:

“It did not use faith. The decision was based on the appreciation of the social standards, on what [the commissioners] felt were the prevailing moral standards.

“The use of Bible quotes was just to bolster that argument about social norms. [The second division] was saying that this is our social culture because of these [religious beliefs], and therefore …”

Nevertheless, Jimenez said gays were a marginalized group and that they had a right to run for Congress as a party-list group.