Justice Department chief ‘shocked’ says Duterte decided to pardon Pemberton of his own free will

MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte “of his own free will” pardoned an American soldier who killed a Filipino transgender, a decision that “surprised” even Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Wednesday.

US Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton has been in prison since the murder of Jennifer Laude in October 2014, whom he met in a bar while resting from military exercises in the northern city of Olongapo.

On Monday, the Justice Department challenged a court ruling that Pemberton qualified for early release due to good behavior, just hours before Duterte announced an outright clemency for the US spear corporal.

Before the announcement, Guevarra said Duterte gave him the “same explanation” that he later told the public. The president, in a televised speech, had said that he learned of the Pemberton case on the news and that “it was not treated fairly.”

“He (Duterte) did not explain who incited him … It seemed to me it was of his own free will,” Guevarra told the ANC. “He must have been following this topic and then on his own he decided to grant forgiveness to end it all.”

He said he was “a little puzzled … a little surprised” by the development.

“But as he immediately explained to me why he was deciding to grant Mr. Pemberton an outright pardon, I found it a bit awkward to question his personal judgment after hearing what he said, which I did not find objectionable at any point anyway,” said the secretary. of Justice.

“I thought it was inappropriate for me to question it because it is actually a personal act of grace, a personal act of clemency on his part. It is still an official function, so to speak. So I didn’t say anything else since he seemed to have taken one. decision, “he added.

“Nothing” in the constitution prohibits the president from granting clemency “even without a request,” Guevarra said.

“The president also has some basis in his own mind, in his own judgment as to why he is deciding to grant forgiveness to someone. Hindi naman capricious or capricious ang pag-grant n’yan,” he said.

(The grant was neither capricious nor capricious.)

Pemberton admitted to strangling Laude after discovering he had male genitalia after an intimate act. Her body was found in a hotel in the city of Olongapo, with her head sunk in a toilet.

Duterte’s clemency clears all legal obstacles to the soldier’s release, despite the fact that he served just over half of his 10-year sentence.

The pardon has renewed anti-American sentiment in the Philippines, where groups have long called for the removal of the US military presence.

Renato Reyes, leader of the left-wing group Bayan, criticized the president’s remarks and condemned Pemberton’s “special treatment.”

“If Filipinos want forgiveness … they must undergo a lengthy process. The US soldier who killed a Filipino was given a fast lane,” he tweeted.

The clemency came despite Duterte having left the United States to seek closer ties with China since he took power in 2016.

– With reports from Jamaine Punzalan, ABS-CBN News; Agence France-Presse