MANILA, Philippines - US Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton, who started serving his prison term for killing Filipino transgender Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude, has been assigned his prison number, the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) said yesterday.
Pemberton also underwent routine turnover procedures, including mug shot, fingerprinting and filling out of an information sheet, BuCor director Ricardo Rainier Cruz.
“I just don’t know what his number is right now,” Cruz told reporters in a phone interview.
The procedures were done at Pemberton’s temporary detention cell – a 40-foot air-conditioned shipping container in the compound of the Joint US Military Assistance Group (Jusmag), a US-controlled facility at Camp Aguinaldo.
Cruz said Pemberton did not avail himself of BuCor’s P50 meal allowance because the US government is providing his meals.
Pemberton is being guarded by National Bilibid Prisons (NBP) jail personnel composed of six members on three shifts a day. Four US servicemen serve as his secondary guards while soldiers guard the perimeter of the JUSMAG compound.
Cruz said nobody among Pemberton’s family has come to visit him in prison as of yesterday.
“We consider him as a minimum security detainee,” Cruz said.
Cruz said Pemberton is likely to serve his prison term not at the NBP, but in a facility that is being repaired at Camp Aguinaldo.
As per international jail standards, Cruz said the facility should have barbed wires and equipped with a closed-circuit television camera. The renovation of the facility is likely to include the installation of an air-conditioning unit.
Cruz said BuCor would shoulder the cost of the repair with assistance from the US government.
“The jail facility that is being renovated is quite big. It can accommodate 50 persons,” Cruz said, adding that the facility was used to detain arrested military coup plotters during the time of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Protest
As this developed, militant groups trooped to the Department of Justice (DOJ) yesterday to protest what they described as special treatment the government is giving to Pemberton.
Led by Gabriela party-list and Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees, the groups slammed Malacañang over reports that a jailhouse for Pemberton is being built inside Camp Aguinaldo.
They called on the DOJ, which Malacañang tasked to facilitate the detention of Pemberton, to transfer the American serviceman to the NBP.
“The Aquino government has further unmasked itself as a coddler of torturers, rapists and killers, even as it hurls Philippine sovereignty down the drain,” the groups said in a statement.
“Uncle Sam’s hand is clearly behind the maneuver of Pemberton’s custody inside the AFP facility. What kind of government is this that instead of ensuring complete justice for one of its own citizen-victims of a hate crime at the hands of a US soldier, it busies itself on how to protect the safety of the killer?” Anakpawis party-list Rep. Fernando Hicap, who joined the protest, said.
The militant groups accused the administration of double standard, citing the case of political prisoners.
They said 304 of 561 political prisoners were arrested during the Aquino administration.
“President Aquino has surpassed the record of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in terms of the number of political prisoners and human rights violations,” the groups said.
DOJ Undersecretary and spokesman Emmanuel Caparas refused to comment on the protest.
“We cannot comment on the issue yet because there is still a pending matter at the trial court and we are being careful to respect the court and its processes,” Caparas said.
The Olongapo City Regional Trial Court Branch 74 found Pemberton guilty of homicide and sentenced him to up to 12 years in jail.
The court ordered Pemberton’s transfer to the NBP pending an agreement with the US government on his detention facility as provided under the Phl-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).
VFA officials said that there was an agreement to temporarily detain Pemberton in the AFP custodial center in Camp Aguinaldo and under watch by BuCor personnel pending completion of the judicial process, including appeal of his conviction.
This prompted Judge Roline Jinez-Jabalde to issue an order on Tuesday night committing the American serviceman to the Camp Aguinaldo facility. – With Edu Punay