Abunda joins Ladlad as senior adviser

MANILA, Philippines - Talk show host and STAR columnist Boy Abunda has joined the Ladlad party-list group as its senior adviser, an officer said yesterday.

Ladlad is the first political party made up of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBT).

Adel Dexter Macaldo, Ladlad media relations officer, said the party’s board signed a resolution appointing Abunda three weeks ago but it was only announced yesterday.

“We did not have any difficulty convincing him to join the Ladlad since he knows that the organization would benefit our sector,” Macaldo said.

According to Macaldo, Abunda said he is helping Ladlad because he wants it to be one of his legacies. The host earlier said his earnings from endorsing a whitening product would go to the LGBTs.

“Abunda said if the Ladlad wins as a party-list, he could say that he helped Ladlad win the elections,” Macaldo said.

Macaldo said so far, there has been no attempt to organize a meeting between President Aquino and Ladlad officials. Abunda strongly supported Aquino’s candidacy in the 2010 presidential race, while Ladlad endorsed the team of Aquino and now Vice President Jejomar Binay.

Meanwhile, Ladlad chairperson Bemz Benedito said since the group failed to win a seat in Congress last year, they have to win in the mid-term polls in 2013 or else again seek accreditation as a party-list group from the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

She said under the party-list law, if a group fails to gain a seat in two elections, the group will be erased from the list of accredited groups.

“The Comelec could again turn down our accreditation and they could again say hurtful words about us,” Benedito said.

The Comelec’s second division denied the group’s application for accreditation on the grounds of “immorality,” but the Supreme Court nullified the poll body’s resolution a month before the May 10, 2010 polls.

 With depleted funds and only three weeks to campaign, the Ang Ladlad managed to get more than 120,000 votes. In year 2013, the LGBT group intends to take three party-list seats at the House of Representatives. It boasts of having 50,000 members. 

She clarified that in the next polls, they will drop the word “Ang” from their name and retain the word “Ladlad.”