MANILA – Various LGBT groups on Wednesday expressed strong condemnation over an Olongapo court’s release order for a US Marine convicted for killing a Filipino transgender woman in 2014.
MANILA – Various LGBT groups on Wednesday expressed strong condemnation over an Olongapo court’s release order for a US Marine convicted for killing a Filipino transgender woman in 2014. An Olongapo City court earlier granted Lance Cpl. Joseph Pemberton’s plea for release under the good conduct time allowance rule (GCTA), years after he killed transgender woman Jennifer Laude in a hotel on Oct.11,2014. Pemberton was sentenced to 6 to 10 years in prison, after being convicted of homicide. The US Marine had admitted he hit and choked Laude when he found out that the latter had male genitals after an intimate act. “The early release of Pemberton is another injustice to the memory of Jennifer, her family, and the country,” Lagablab LGBT network said in a statement. “Jennifer’s life is not worth six years of solo and comfortable stay in Camp Aguinaldo,” the group added. Pemberton is being held at a facility at Camp Aguinaldo, instead of regular prison, per provisions of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the Philippines and the United States.
