Immigration Office: Pemberton to be blacklisted

U.S. Navy Lancers Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton / Office of Corrections Photo

MANILA, Philippines – U.S. Navy Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton will be blacklisted by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and will not be able to return to the country after his deportation, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said Saturday.

“Pemberton is also on the blacklist,” said Deputy Secretary and Justice Department spokesman Markk Perete in a text message to reporters.

“Under the rules, a person blacklisted on the basis of moral depravity can request that the blacklist order be lifted 10 years after its implementation,” he added.

“His deportation order is based on a finding of undesirability for the commission of a crime that involves moral depravity (homicide).”

Pemberton was convicted in 2015 for the death of a transgender woman Jennifer Laude, and was sentenced to between six and ten years in prison.

But a court in the city of Olongapo granted his early release, citing that the US serviceman had already served the maximum 10 years of his sentence after taking into account the good conduct time allowances he accumulated while in detention.

Amid a motion for reconsideration filed by the Laude family to stop Pemberton’s release, President Rodrigo Duterte granted him an outright clemency.

On Friday, Custody of Pemberton was transferred to BI of the Corrections Office.

BI spokeswoman Dana Sandoval, in a text message to reporters, said that immigration agents are currently in a meeting at Camp Aguinaldo to discuss the logistical preparations for Pemberton’s deportation.

“The required documents have already been submitted, but the final details of its flight and preparations for deployment have not yet been discussed,” Sandoval said.

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