[ad_1]
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 12) – US Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton, pardoned, is minutes away from flying back to the United States when Philippine authorities announced the end of documentation requirements for his deportation.
“The required documents have already been submitted, but the final details of his flight and preparations for implementation have not yet been discussed,” Immigration Office spokeswoman Dana Sandoval said in a statement.
Pemberton also tested negative for COVID-19, one of the requirements for his trip. There are no details about his flight yet.
As the Secretary of Justice, Menardo Guevarra estimated, Pemberton could leave the country this weekend.
The US soldier is staying at Camp Aguinaldo, the headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, where he had spent less than six years in solitary confinement for brutally killing Filipino transgender woman Jennifer Laude. He had a special holding cell in accordance with the country’s Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States. He is now with immigration authorities after the Corrections Office turned over his custody.
Earlier this week, President Rodrigo Duterte surprised the country when he granted an absolute pardon to Pemberton, extinguishing his criminal responsibility. It came despite appeals by the Laude family and even the country’s own Justice Department against Pemberton’s early release for good behavior.
The pardon came ahead of the court’s ruling on the controversial issue. Laude’s mother, Julita, said the family was shocked by Duterte’s move, saying they treated him as an ally as he provided financial aid and promised not to let Pemberton go free under their watch.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque, a former legal adviser to the Laude family, denied that Duterte made such a promise.
Pemberton blacklisted
Meanwhile, Attorney General Markk Perete confirmed that Pemberton is also blacklisted, something that usually comes with deportation orders.
“According to the rules, a person blacklisted on the basis of moral depravity can request the lifting of the blacklist 10 years after its implementation,” Perete said in a statement.
Pemberton’s attorney, Rowena Flores, said she plans to finish her college studies since she was just 19 years old when she committed the crime. She also said Pemberton hopes to contact the Laude family and apologize.
Pemberton has not reached out to Lauds to date, Virgie Suarez, the family’s attorney, said in a statement.
“I never got close. No apologies, ”Suarez said. “May you find peace of mind. Hoping to have learned from all this the value of life and dignity regardless of gender and nationality ”.
Laude was found dead in a motel room in Olongapo city after a night out with Corporal Pemberton de Lance in October 2014. Laude’s neck was blackened with strangulation marks and her head was slammed into a toilet, after Pemberton found out she was transgender.
The high-profile case sparked emotions in the country from members and supporters of the LGBTQI community and from groups criticizing the perceived special treatment accorded to wandering U.S. military personnel.
[ad_2]
