Gov’t summons US Marine

MANILA, Philippines - A government prosecutor yesterday summoned US Marine Private First Class Joseph Scott Pemberton over the alleged killing of transgender Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude last weekend in Olongapo City.

In a subpoena, the Olongapo City Prosecutor’s Office required the 19-year-old Pemberton to attend a preliminary investigation hearing on Oct. 21 at 2 p.m. and answer the murder charge filed against him by Laude’s family earlier this week.

Pemberton was ordered to submit his counter-affidavit on the complaint.

The subpoena was delivered to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), which is tasked under the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the US and Philippine governments to serve the summons to Pemberton, who is being held on board the amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu in Subic Bay.

The subpoena was personally delivered by DFA Assistant Secretary for Legal Affairs Ed de Vega and City Prosecutor Emily Fe delos Santos, who also headed the government prosecution team in the 2005 rape complaint filed by a woman called Nicole against US Marines Daniel Smith, Chad Carpentier, Dominic Duplantis and Keith Silkwood.

“There is a protocol under the VFA. We have to course it through the DFA, which will then course it through the embassy of the US,” Justice Secretary Leila de Lima told reporters.

Prosecutors all over the country are supervised by the National Prosecution Service of the Department of Justice (DOJ).

But UP professor Harry Roque Jr., lawyer of the Laude family, questioned why the process has become more complicated compared to the proceedings in the Nicolas case.

“In that case, Smith and the others were immediately surrendered by the US authorities during inquest proceedings after the subpoena was served directly to the US embassy. Why is it that in this new case, there is a need to pass through the DFA,” he said in a separate interview at the DOJ.

The lawyer, who had questioned the legality of the VFA before the Supreme Court, said Pemberton should have been immediately turned over to Philippine authorities under the controversial treaty.

“The provision (Article 5, Section 6) in the VFA which says that the US government may request for custody of their serviceman means that Pemberton should be under Philippine custody first,” he said.

Upon inquiry with VFA commission chair Eduardo Oban Jr., Roque said he was told that the same process in the Nicolas rape case would be applied in the Laude murder case.

Quoting Oban, he also revealed that the US government has vowed cooperation in the proceedings against Pemberton.

Roque went to the DOJ to apply for coverage of their three witnesses under the DOJ’s witness protection program (WPP).

He did not reveal details about the witnesses due to the confidentiality rule of WPP, but confirmed that one of them was a certain “Barbie,” who identified Pemberton as the companion of Laude in the motel room where the latter was found dead.

The lawyer believes that the witnesses should be protected as he himself was being followed “obviously a US serviceman” while he was doing his duties as lawyer of the Laude family the past days in Olongapo.

Roque said the family of Laude would not accept any offer for out-of-court settlement from the US government.

Good kid

Pemberton, who is an anti-tank missile man, currently serves with the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines.

He wrote on Facebook that he is from New Bedford, Massachusetts and graduated in 2013 from GNB Voc-Tech, a regional vocational technical high school. School officials said he majored in metal fabrication.

On the work section of FB, he listed United States Marine Corps and the slogan “kill stuff and break things.”

The Marine Times said Pemberton went to boot camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, in August 2013. The Marine Corps has not released his service record.

The Standard Times of Bedford quoted Pemberton’s mother, Lisa Pemberton, as saying “his family loves him very much and nothing is going to change that.”

His uncle, Scott Pemberton, a former professional boxer, said he does not know what happened, but has a high regard for his nephew.

“I know the kid very well. He’s a really good kid,” he said.

US flag burned

Progressive organizations from the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City yesterday burned an improvised American flag in protest of Laude’s murder.

Shouting chants calling justice for Laude, members of the UP community called on the government to arrest Pemberton and detain him in a local jail.

The activists hit President Aquino for failing to assert the country’s laws by letting the US government take custody of the suspect, even as the incident happened in Philippine territory.

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada joined his colleagues in seeking for the review of the VFA.

“While I still believe that the VFA remains beneficial for the Philippines in terms of capacity building of our armed troops and keeping regional security, recent events have shown how some provisions of the agreement can be disadvantageous to the Filipinos,” Estrada said.

Sen. Loren Legarda stressed the need to revisit the VFA because of its onerous provisions, particularly on criminal jurisdiction.

“While we acknowledge the benefits of the VFA, especially in providing the needed support for our armed forces as we have yet to complete the military modernization program, we cannot turn a blind eye to the iniquitous provisions of the VFA,” she said. – With Jose Katigbak, Janvic Mateo, Christina Mendez, Bebot Sison Jr., Paolo Romero, Aurea Calica, Pia Lee- Brago, Cecille Suerte Felipe