What to do? Ang Ladlad party list in quandary

MANILA, Philippines–Decisions, decisions.

Will the “Ang Ladlad” political party representing Filipino gays and lesbians run in the 2016 elections under a new name, or will it wait for the 2019 polls when, presumably, the group would be better prepared and may have a better chance of winning?

Ang Ladlad founder Danton Remoto said the “national organization of lesbian, gay, bisexual (and) transgender (LGBT) Filipinos” party was delisted by the Commission on Elections on Friday, along with 38 other party-list groups, for failing to obtain at least two percent of the votes cast for party-list groups in the 2010 and 2013 elections.

As such, Ang Ladlad cannot run in 2016 unless it files for registration under a new name, Remoto said.

In a phone interview, the Ateneo de Manila University professor said the organization was considering the name “LGBT party list,” a new and “unknown name,” but it might give them even less chance of winning.

“The 12 years I spent making Ladlad grow were the best years of my life,” Remoto said in a Facebook post.

“I spent hard-earned personal funds in the [last] two elections, but everything was worth it,” he added.

Remoto said former Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno told him it would be even more difficult to win in 2016 than in 2013 because “even big political parties can have their own party-list groups.”

“Of course, big political parties have money. What do small marginalized party-lists like us have?” he said.

Remoto said it was more likely the group would wait for 2019 to try their luck in the elections anew.

“Mag-pre-prepare na lang ang mga beki (The gays will just spend the time preparing),” he said.