No immediate release of Pemberton

MANILA, Philippines – A dispute over whether former U.S. Marine Joseph Pemberton should receive a good conduct time allowance (GCTA) while serving his sentence for killing transgender Jennifer Laude is blocking his immediate release, and he will not be released until a court resolve the issue raised by his victim’s family, authorities said Thursday.

Judge Roline Ginez-Jabalde of the Olongapo Regional First Instance Court (RTC), who sentenced Pemberton to a maximum of 10 years in prison for Laude’s murder in 2014, ruled on Monday that he had already served his sentence. for more than 10 months with good led credits and ordered his release.

The GCTA law grants sentence reduction to inmates who display good behavior in prison.

Virgie Lacsa Suarez, an attorney for the Laude family, had filed a motion against Pemberton’s early release.

“No good behavior can be attributed to someone in solitary confinement, he did not associate with other convicts, he never participated in any rehabilitation program, he never performed any authorized work activity, to guarantee a single credit under the good behavior clause,” said Suárez.

She said the Laudes were shocked and devastated when they learned of the court’s release order.

“Now they realized why Pemberton was in a rush to pay the civil damages. It was all a ruse. But we are not going to give up the case, ”Suárez told the Inquirer.

Still on appeal

Deputy Attorney General Markk Perete said the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) “will not yet process Pemberton’s release” pending resolution of the Laude family’s motion to reconsider.

The undersecretary of Foreign Relations, Eduardo Meñez, said that the release order was still on appeal, “so nothing seems to be final yet.”

In a statement, BuCor said that it respects the judicial processes “and will await the resolution” of the motion. “In the meantime, the normal publishing process is on hold,” he said.

The court noted that Pemberton had already served a total of 3,690 days, more than the maximum sentence he imposed for his murder conviction.

The total number of days was based on calculations by BuCor, which said Pemberton served 2,142 days in jail and earned an additional 1,548 days in good time credit.

Since his conviction in November 2015, Pemberton has been detained in a special military jail at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, as part of the Visiting Forces Agreement between the United States and the Philippines (VFA).

VFA benefits

Romel Bagares, one of the Laude family’s advisers, said Pemberton was not entitled to a sentence reduction because the Philippines and the United States did not agree that the GCTA would apply to him.

“The Visiting Forces Agreement requires both parties to specifically agree to the benefits that Pemberton can enjoy as a convict under Philippine law. There is no such agreement, ”said Bagares.

He said the two sides only agreed on where the American would serve his sentence. “In the absence of such an agreement, he should serve his sentence in full,” Bagares said.

He said “there is a substantial difference in treatment between someone under the VFA and a common convict,” citing two Supreme Court rulings on visiting US troops committing crimes in the Philippines.

“Ordinary convicts do not enjoy the privileges that Pemberton enjoys while serving his sentence. Ordinary convicts deserve the graces of the GCTA. Pemberton doesn’t, ”Bagares said.

Executive function

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque, another former attorney for the Laude family, criticized the judge’s decision to credit Pemberton for good behavior, saying it was “an instance of judicial overreach.”

“For those with Pemberton, let the executive branch request a reconsideration because the decision on the GCTA is an executive function,” he said, emphasizing that he was speaking for Malacañang.

He said the Olongapo court ruling in favor of Pemberton could affect the agreements between the Philippines and the United States, considering that President Duterte had already ordered the repeal of the VFA.

“I believe that the president’s decision to end the VFA is the true liberation of justice for Jennifer Laude, because the murder of Jennifer Laude is a symbol of the death of Philippine sovereignty,” said Roque.

He said the VFA showed that “if an American kills a Filipino like an animal, it will only mean five years in prison. That shouldn’t be the case. “

He added that the fact that Pemberton was not in the custody of the Philippines even during his incarceration was a violation of the country’s sovereignty.

LGBTQ community

Senator Risa Hontiveros lamented that Pemberton enjoyed a privilege not granted to many Filipinos, referring to the “speed with which our institutions have acted in the case of a white American.”

He also said that Pemberton’s release would be a loss to the LGBTQ community’s fight for equality and justice, as his “hate crime” and “gruesome murder” of Laude gave him only a 10-year sentence for the that he had been less than six years old.

He also deplored Pemberton’s lack of apology.

“Those years of deafening silence, and now an early release, this is not what Jennifer deserves. Pemberton paid the Laude family more than P4.6 million in civil damages, but no amount can restore life and dignity to Jennifer, ”he said.

Members of the LGBTQ rights group Bahaghari protested Thursday against the Justice Department and condemned Pemberton’s possible early release.

“Pemberton’s release is twofold: it represents the boundless injustice that the LGBTQ community continues to face and, furthermore, the government’s continued submission to US imperialism,” the group said in a statement. “Justice for Jennifer cannot exist without both finishing decisively.”

Signature campaign

The Laude family and their supporters have started a signature campaign to oppose Pemberton’s early release with a petition on Change.org to keep him in jail and end the VFA.

“Pemberton is not an ordinary American citizen who killed Jennifer Laude on October 11, 2014. He is a lance corporal in the US Marine Corps, and therefore represents the US military and state. . UU. ”, Reads the petition initiated by the LGBTQ rights group True Colors. Coalition (TCC).

TCC and Kilusan para sa Pambansang Demokrasya also announced that they would hold a rally on Monday at the Olongapo RTC, where the hearing on the motion to reconsider their order to release the American was scheduled. –(With reporting from Dexter Cabalza, Julie M. Aurelio, Leila B. Salaverria, Krixia Subingsubing, and Joanna Rose Aglibot)

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