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WORLD NEWS Monday 14 SepteMber 2020

Philippines deports U.S. Marine in transgender killing

By JIM GOMEZ military personnel who par-
Associated Press ticipated in joint exercises
MANILA, Philippines (AP) in the Philippines in 2014.
— A U.S. Marine convicted He and a few other Marines
of killing a Filipino transgen- were on leave after the ex-
der woman was deported ercises and met Laude and
Sunday after a presidential her friends at a bar in Olon-
pardon cut short his deten- gapo, a city known for its
tion in a case that renewed nightlife outside Subic Bay,
outrage over a pact gov- a former U.S. Navy base.
erning American military Laude was later found
presence in the Philippines. dead, her head slumped
Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott in a toilet bowl in a motel
Pemberton said in a fare- room, where witnesses said
well message that he was she and Pemberton had
"extremely grateful" to checked in. A witness told
President Rodrigo Duterte investigators that Pember-
for pardoning him and ex- ton said he choked Laude
pressed his "most sincere after discovering she was
sympathy" to the family of transgender.
Jennifer Laude, who he In December 2015, a judge
was convicted of killing in convicted Pemberton of
2014 in a motel northwest homicide, not the more
of Manila after finding out serious charge of murder
that she was transgender. that Philippine prosecutors
In his nearly six years of con- sought. The judge said at
finement, Pemberton said the time that factors such
he spent "much time con- as cruelty and treachery
templating the many errors" In this photo provided by the Philippines' Bureau of Immigration, U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph had not been proven.
Scott Pemberton, center, poses for a photo before leaving Camp Aguinaldo on his way to the
he committed the night airport in Quezon city, Philippines, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020. The VFA could have been
Laude died. "He wishes he Associated Press abrogated last month if
had the words to express Duterte had not delayed
the depth of his sorrow and The U.S. Embassy said that prisoners for good conduct. which he said the Marine an earlier decision to ter-
regret," according to Pem- "all legal proceedings in The Regional Trial Court in may have deserved, was minate the pact after
berton's message, which the case took place under Olongapo city, which han- blocked. President Donald Trump ex-
was issued by his lawyer, Philippine jurisdiction and dled Pemberton's case, The court order rekindled pressed readiness to help
Rowena Garcia-Flores. law," and that "Pemberton ruled that the law covers perceptions that American the Philippines deal with
Virginia Suarez, the Laude fulfilled his sentence as or- Pemberton and ordered military personnel who run the COVID-19 pandemic.
family's lawyer, said in a dered by Philippine courts." authorities on Sept. 1 to afoul of Philippine laws can The Philippine leader has
statement that she wish- On Monday, Duterte release him early for good get special treatment un- said his country can survive
es Pemberton "peace of granted an "absolute and conduct. But Laude's family der the VFA, which provides without America.
mind," and hopes that he unconditional pardon" to and the Department of Jus- the legal terms for tempo- If the VFA had been
has learned "the value of Pemberton in a move that tice separately appealed, rary visits by U.S. forces to scrapped, it would have
life and dignity regardless caught many by surprise. blocking his early release the country for large-scale removed a legal basis for
of gender and nationality." The Philippine leader has from a maximum prison combat exercises. Pemberton's detention in
Philippine immigration offi- long been a vocal critic of term of up to 10 years. Pemberton, an anti-tank the military camp and cre-
cers and American person- U.S. security policies while Duterte said he granted missile operator from New ated pressure for him to be
nel escorted the 25-year- reaching out to China and the pardon because Pem- Bedford, Massachusetts, moved to one of the coun-
old Pemberton, who was in Russia. berton was not treated was one of thousands of try's notoriously overcrowd-
handcuffs and wearing a Duterte's pardon was con- fairly after his early release, American and Philippine ed and high-risk prisons.q
face mask, from his cell in demned by left-wing and
the main military camp in LGBTQ groups.
Manila to the airport, where Debate has brewed over
he boarded a military air- whether the Marine, whose
craft. He was put on an im- detention was arranged
migration blacklist and will under the treaty allies' Vis-
be banned from returning iting Forces Agreement, or
to the country, said immi- VFA, can be covered by a
gration spokesperson Dana Philippine law that grants
Sandoval. shorter jail terms to ordinary