The Pemberton case

Six years after killing Filipino transgender Jennifer Laude during a sexual encounter in Olongapo, US Marine Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton left the country last Sunday. Pemberton, who had been confined at the Joint United States Military Advisory Group (JUSMAG) facility inside Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City since Oct. 22, 2014 or short of six years, was finally allowed to leave the country. Bureau of Immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval announced that the 25-year-old Pemberton was escorted by BI personnel, along with representatives from the US embassy, and boarded a US military plane bound for his home country.

Actually, that plane, a US C-130, was bound for Guam so Pemberton would still be under US military control.

From his detention cell at Camp Aguinaldo, Pemberton boarded the BI vehicle and was escorted by the US military and US embassy personnel in Manila to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). Pemberton wore a facemask and was in handcuffs from the time he left the JUSMAG facility until he arrived at the NAIA Terminal 3. It was only as he was about to board the C-130 US military plane at the old Balagbag Airport at the NAIA complex that the BI escorts removed his handcuffs and he was accompanied by a US military officer inside the aircraft.

Before he was deported, Pemberton underwent regular processing and booking procedures, and was required to secure clearances from the appropriate offices as well as to present a travel document and outbound travel arrangements. In a statement sent to the media, Pemberton’s lawyer, Atty. Flores, said her client expressed gratitude to Duterte for giving him absolute pardon. He also regretted causing pain to the Laude family.

To the family of Ms. Jennifer Laude, he extends his “most sincere sympathy for the pain he caused.” In the years he spent in confinement, he spent much more contemplating the many errors in his ways regarding the night of Oct. 11, 2014. He wishes he had the words “to express the depth of his sorrow and regret.” Pres. Duterte granted Pemberton absolute pardon last Sept. 7 after Olongapo City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 74 Presiding Judge Roline Ginez-Jabalde ordered his release last Sept. 1, as the convict had already served his maximum jail term under the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) credits.

In a public address that aired on Monday last week, the President defended his decision to pardon Pemberton, asserting that the latter “should be allowed the good character presumption” because he had behaved well behind bars. As what we learned about this case. Cpl. Pemberton and Jennifer Laude, then 26, met in a nightclub outside Subic Bay, a former US naval base, in October 2014, when he was in the country with the US Forces for joint military exercises.

Closed-circuit television video presented during the trial showed the two entering a hotel together, and Pemberton was seen leaving alone. A hotel worker found Laude dead; her head slumped over a toilet with a broken neck. Cpl. Pemberton, an anti-tank missile operator from New Bedford, Massachusetts, was one of the thousands of Americans who have participated in exercises under the US-Philippines Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), the legal framework for the temporary visits of US Armed Forces.

Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Thursday said there was no “exchange” in the absolute pardon granted by the President to Pemberton. Sec. Locsin insisted that the US did not request Duterte to pardon Pemberton, and that even outgoing US Ambassador Sung Kim was “surprised” by the decision. Of course, this is due to the reality that Pemberton had already served his jail term.

Meanwhile, DND spokesman Arsenio Andolong said there are lessons learned that would improve the conduct of such activities in the future. “Although we have not had any exercises in the Philippines since the COVID-19 pandemic affected our country, we have engaged our American counterparts in frank discussions regarding future incidents involving visiting military personnel.”

Perhaps when the time will come and US servicemen will always find ways to get some girls for entertainment, the AFP could ensure that no LGBT would be inserted together with women. I would like to believe that Pemberton killed Laude due to this reality.

* * *

For email responses to this article, write to [email protected] . His columns can be accessed through www.philstar.com.