Fishers group condemns “special treatment and early release” of Pemberton
Manila, Philippines — “It was the Duterte government’s submissive foreign policies that made it happen. We are actually under the leadership of a puppet regime with two foreign masters; the United States and China,”
This was the reaction of the left-leaning fishers group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (PAMALAKAYA) on the “early”release“ of American Marine Lance
Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton, who was found guilty for the murder of transgender Jennifer Laude in Olongapo City, in 2014.
In a statement, PAMALAKAYA denounced what they call as a “special treatment” for the convicted American soldier, who “did not even set foot on a regular jail cell, but rather, detained like a VIP in a special facility in Camp Aguinaldo” for six years.
The fishers group questioned the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) granted to Pemberton, when “he did not actually serve his sentence like a usual inmate detained in a regular cell”.
“While Filipino inmates, most especially the political prisoners, have been languishing in congested jail cells with high risk of getting the pandemic virus, a foreign criminal guilty of murdering our own, was enjoying a special treatment in an exclusive jail facility,” Fernando Hicap, PAMALAKAYA National Chairperson said in a statement.
PAMALAKAYA’s Hicap said that the special treatment and early release for Pemberton were made possible by the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), a military treaty between the Philippines and the United States (U.S.) which militant groups criticized as “favorable” to American soldiers but disadvantageous to the Philippine sovereignty and national security.
“Whatever happened to President Duterte’s pronouncement to terminate the VFA. The VFA retains so are the special treatment for the G.I. Joe,” Hicap, former Anakpawis Party-list solon added.
“There will be no justice for Laude with the release of her assailant. Pemberton’s special treatment and release further the brutality of Laude’s death,” ended Hicap. ###
