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President Duterte granted outright clemency to United States Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton on Monday, ending a legal dispute over a court order that attributed good conduct to him, shortening his prison term for the 2024 murder of Filipino transgender Jennifer Laude.
Following this decision, Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Pemberton could now be released from jail after being convicted of Laude’s murder.
“The president erased the punishment, which should have been given to Pemberton. . . Now he’s free to leave since he received the pardon, ”said Roque, who once represented Laude’s family.
Roque noted that the outright pardon does not remove Pemberton’s conviction by a local court as a murderer.
In 2015, Pemberton was sentenced to between 6 and 10 years in prison for killing Laude in an apparent fit of rage the previous year.
Last week, the Olongapo City Regional First Instance Court ruled that Pemberton could already be released even after being detained alone for more than six years as he counted his good conduct time allowance (GCTA).
With the GCTA, the Court said that Pemberton has already served 10 years, one month and 10 days in prison.
The Court’s decision was challenged by both Roque and the Department of Justice (DOJ), as the GCTA delivered to Pemberton was not accompanied by the necessary recommendation from the Bureau of Correction.
The matter became irrelevant Monday after Duterte pardoned Pemberton using his presidential powers to grant clemency and parole.
Malacañang did not give any explanation as to why Duterte made the decision.
Laude kin reacts
Atty. Virginia Lacsa Suarez, a lawyer for the Laude family, issued this statement upon learning of the pardon:
“On behalf of the Laude Family and all the members of KILUSAN and KAISA KA, we strongly denounce the absolute given by Duterte. This is another injustice not only for Jennifer Laude and her family, but also for the Filipino people. This is a parody of Philippine sovereignty and democracy.
“This is another hallmark of the Philippine servility towards the United States.
“There are too many Filipino prisoners, who are already serving their sentence in their last years, why give it to a foreigner, an American soldier who committed a heinous crime?”
Pemberton’s assassination of Laude, Suarez said, “reflects the systematic discrimination and violence inflicted by the United States on Filipino women, children and the LGBTQ community. There is so much disrespect in the way Jennifer was assassinated, which reflects the disrespect that the United States has for the democracy and sovereignty of the Philippines. “
Laude’s death on October 11, 2014 in Olongapo was the second reported criminal case involving a US Marine in the Philippines under the existing Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the Philippines and the US. And the first since the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca).
Since his conviction, Pemberton has been detained at the United States Joint Military Assistance Group facilities at Camp Aguinaldo.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra previously said that Olongapo prosecutors were drafting a motion to overturn Judge Roline Ginez-Jabalde’s order from Olongapo City RTC Branch 74 last week.
Earlier on Monday, Laude’s camp welcomed the Olongapo RTC order to compel the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) to formally file a rally on Pemberton’s qualification for GCTA for his early release from prison.
Virginia Suárez, a lawyer for Laude’s sister, Marilou Laude-Mahait, told reporters that only the guard assigned to secure Pemberton while he was detained did the calculation of the latter’s GCTA, which became Judge’s basis.
Jabalde to rule that the American soldier had served his maximum sentence of 10 years.
“The court issued an order for the BuCor to update the count, or for the BuCor to actually say if Pemberton can really use a GCTA …” said Suarez. Samuel P. Medenilla, Recto L. Mercene, Joel R. San Juan
