Robredo questions Pemberton’s forgiveness | Inquirer News

MANILA, Philippines – On Tuesday, Vice President Leni Robredo questioned President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to grant full clemency to Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton, who abruptly interrupted his 10-year prison sentence for killing a transgender woman Jennifer Laude and resolved the legal dispute over whether her sentence should be considered served in full.

The president announced his decision on Monday, since the Regional Court of First Instance (RTC) of the city of Olongapo, where the murder occurred in 2014, knew of a motion to reconsider its decision last week that the former corporal of Spear of the Marine Corps had served his sentence after good conduct time credits were applied.

“Was it a fair and equitable decision?” Robredo asked, citing as a backdrop the thousands of Filipinos who remained in prison but were too poor to pay lawyers to solve their cases.

“Pemberton had attorneys, special detention centers, a speedy public trial, and an appeal. Now it seems clearer that he also had the resources to ensure that he could draw attention to his case from the president himself, “he said in a statement.

Duterte defended his decision on national television Monday night, saying the country “did not treat him [Pemberton] precisely ”when his“ good character ”is considered, which must be presumed and proven, since there was no record of his behavior while he was serving his sentence.

“So it’s not Pemberton’s fault that that was not calculated because we should allow him the presumption of good character,” he said.

Favoring the powerful?

Pemberton has been detained in a makeshift prison built from a steel shipping container at Camp Aguinaldo since he was convicted in November 2015.

In his statement, Robredo said that the Pemberton pardon was “one of many instances in which the government favors the powerful.”

“There are so many Filipinos with far more minor offenses who are not given this kind of privilege or paid attention to. What we see is that the poor are punished and the rich and powerful are freed, ”said the vice president.

“We continue to hope that the president will exercise his vast powers in a fair manner and that it will benefit the common Filipino,” Robredo said.

In a report to the Philippine Conference of Catholic Bishops, Jesuit priest Silvino Borres said the pardon reflected the “unjust” justice system.

Borres, who also works with inmates in Philippine prisons and lectures on spirituality at the Loyola Institute of Theology at Ateneo de Manila University, challenged Mr. Duterte to also grant forgiveness to thousands of other prisoners “more deserving than Pemberton.”

The former marine met Laude in Olongapo after participating in joint military exercises between the United States and the Philippines under the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) in October 2014. According to court records, he strangled her and put her head in a toilet. inside a hotel room after learning she was a transgender woman.

Laude family

The pardon “repaid the pain” caused by Laude’s death nearly six years ago and was a shock and “felt like a betrayal” to his family, said his attorney, Virgie Lacsa-Suarez.

“I thought President Duterte was on our side. I thought he was an ally and he hated America. What happened? “Suarez said, quoting Laude’s sister, Marilou.

He said the Laude family’s only request was “such [pardon] it doesn’t happen again. “

“We hope there will never be another Jennifer Laude,” Suarez said, citing Laude’s sister, Marilou.

The lawyer said the pardon was “a disgusting turn of events,” considering that Pemberton has never served time in a Philippine jail with other convicts.

“From the beginning, our government did not get custody of Pemberton. He is in a special detention facility guarded by US and Filipino soldiers inside Camp Aguinaldo, ”he said. “Isn’t it unfair to Filipinos that he [Duterte] Did you say Pemberton was not treated fairly?

“This is another hallmark of the Philippines’ submission to the United States. The pardon granted to Pemberton is a mockery of our judicial and legal system, ”he added.

Rowena Garcia-Flores, an attorney for Pemberton, said her client told her she was “very happy” about the president’s clemency, but that she herself was “incredulous.”

“We did not expect President Duterte to grant him that. As a lawyer, the president knows that we did not ask for what was not in accordance with the law, ”Flores said in a television interview.

According to the Secretary of Justice, Menardo Guevarra, the “usual procedure” is for a convict to request a pardon or conditional release, “but nothing prevents the president from directly exercising his constitutional power to grant executive clemency at any time.”

Release processing

Flores said Pemberton, a former anti-tank missile operator, told him that he would like to get a job at his home in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and get a college degree.

Gabriel Chaclag, a spokesman for the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), said they were waiting for an official copy of the clemency to process Pemberton’s release.

“We will just speed up the process so that it can finish soon,” he said in a radio interview.

According to BuCor, Pemberton is still in solitary confinement in the prison specially designed for him in the area of ​​the Mutual Defense Board and the Security Engagement Board at Camp Aguinaldo.

While the facility is within the headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, it is under the administration of the United States. Both US and Filipino personnel guard the converted prison van.

Guevarra said the president’s decision to grant Pemberton clemency “was his alone,” without any request, even from the US government. “Nobody caused it,” he said.

–With reporting from Dona Z. Pazzibugan, Dexter Cabalza, and Jodee A. Agoncillo

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