PROTEST VS PARDON Members of the LGBTQ+ organization Bahaghari and Gabriela protest President Duterte鈥檚 granting of absolute pardon to US Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton during a rally at the Boy Scouts鈥� Circle on Tomas Morato Avenue, Quezon City, on Monday. (Photo by LYN RILLON / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� Transgender and human rights advocates on Tuesday condemned the absolute pardon granted to former US Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton, calling President Rodrigo Duterte鈥檚 move an affront to the country鈥檚 sovereignty.
Bataan Rep. Geraldine Roman, who broke barriers as the country鈥檚 first transgender woman elected to Congress, strongly disagreed with the pardon, calling it a case of 鈥渟pecial treatment鈥� for a foreigner.
In a post on her Facebook page, Roman said Pemberton should be made to pay for his crime 鈥渢o the full extent of law鈥� for killing transwoman Jennifer Laude in 2014.
鈥淢any of our people have violated the law but are not given the same privilege. This should not be,鈥� Roman said.
Trans sister鈥檚 case
鈥淎s a human being with a trans experience, I cannot help but be hurt by the developments in the case of my trans sister Jennifer Laude against Joseph Scott Pemberton,鈥� she said.
鈥淚 strongly express my disagreement to the decision,鈥� said Roman, who is allied with the administration鈥檚 supermajority in the House of Representatives.
The vice chair of the House women and gender equality panel acknowledged the country鈥檚 bilateral ties with the United States but said this should not have influenced Laude鈥檚 case.
True Colors Coalition-Pilipinas, an LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) rights group, said the pardon showed that the Duterte administration was 鈥渟ubservient鈥� to the US government.
The group said it was also a reflection of the government鈥檚 failure to recognize the rights of LGBTQ members.
鈥淭his government should be held liable for this kind of policy and injustice that prevails in our country,鈥� it said.
Virgie Lacsa-Suarez, a lawyer for the Laude family, said her killing reflected the 鈥渟ystematic discrimination and violence inflicted by the US on Filipino women, children and the LGBTQ community.鈥�
Many Filipino convicts
鈥淭here are too many Filipino convicts, already in their twilight years serving their sentence, why give it (pardon) to a foreigner, a US soldier who committed an atrocious crime?鈥� she said.
Another lawyer for the Laudes, Romel Bagares of the advocacy group Centerlaw linked the pardon to Duterte鈥檚 order to halt the abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States.
鈥淟aude鈥檚 case shows Filipinos have remained second-class citizens in their own country, their own welfare being secondary only to those of foreigners,鈥� Bagares said.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been here before 鈥� so it continues our subservience to US interests,鈥� he added, referring to the first criminal case under the VFA involving another Marine, Daniel Smith.
Smith was sentenced in 2006 to a prison term of 40 years for the rape of a Filipino woman but was acquitted by an appeals court in 2009 after the woman withdrew the charges. Smith was detained at the US Embassy.
鈥�With reports from Joanna Rose Aglibot and Dona Z. Pazzibugan