{"id":18298,"date":"2020-09-08T20:21:16","date_gmt":"2020-09-08T20:21:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/09\/08\/philippine-president-pardons-us-marine-in-2014-transgender-killing\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:28:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:28:45","slug":"philippine-president-pardons-us-marine-in-2014-transgender-killing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2020\/09\/08\/philippine-president-pardons-us-marine-in-2014-transgender-killing\/","title":{"rendered":"Philippine president pardons US Marine in 2014 transgender killing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MANILA, Philippines \u2014 The Philippine president pardoned a U.S. Marine on Monday in a surprise move that will <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2020\/09\/02\/philippine-court-orders-us-marines-early-release-in-2014-killing\/\" target=_blank>free him from imprisonment<\/a> in the 2014 killing of a transgender Filipino woman that sparked anger in the former American colony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">President Rodrigo Duterte said he decided to pardon Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton because the Marine was not treated fairly after opponents blocked his early release for good conduct in detention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A left-wing human rights group, Karapatan, immediately condemned the pardon as a \u201cdespicable and shameless mockery of justice and servility to U.S. imperialist interests.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/newsletters\/daily-news-roundup\/2020\/09\/03\/philippine-appeals-block-release-of-us-marine-convicted-in-killing-of-transgender-filipino-woman\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20247199869479.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Philippines blocks release of US Marine convicted in killing of transgender Filipino woman<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The court order has rekindled perceptions that American military personnel who run afoul of Philippine laws can get special treatment under the allies\u2019 Visiting Forces Agreement.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2017\/04\/10\/marine-s-conviction-for-killing-transgender-filipino-affirmed-by-appellate-court\/\" target=_blank>Pemberton was convicted of homicide<\/a> and has been serving a prison term of six to 10 years for the killing of Jennifer Laude in a motel in Olongapo city, northwest of Manila. His lawyer, Rowena Garcia-Flores, told The Associated Press that Pemberton was already aware of Duterte\u2019s decision when she called him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI heard the news,\u201d Garcia-Flores quoted the 25-year-old Pemberton as saying. \u201cI\u2019m very happy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meeting Pemberton in detention a few days ago, she said he expressed his willingness to apologize to the Laude family even belatedly. Pemberton would likely be removed from the Marines due to his conviction and plans to work in the U.S., Garcia-Flores added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20251835987144.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte\" class=\"wp-image-41726\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20251835987144.jpg.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20251835987144.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20251835987144.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20251835987144.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,682 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20251835987144.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte talks at the Malacanang presidential palace in Manila, Philippines, Monday, Sept. 7, 2020. (Karl Norman Alonzo\/Malacanang Presidential Photographers Division via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Presidential spokesman Harry Roque, who once served as a lawyer for the Laude family, said the presidential pardon would mean the immediate release of Pemberton from detention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe president has erased the punishment that should be imposed on Pemberton. What the president did not erase was the conviction of Pemberton. He\u2019s still a killer,\u201d Roque told reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/2015\/12\/02\/u-s-marine-found-guilty-of-killing-transgender-filipina\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/joseph-scott-pemberton.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">U.S. Marine found guilty of killing transgender Filipina<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Editor&#039;s note: This story was originally published Dec. 1 on MarineCorpsTimes.com.\u00a0\nA U.S.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Laude\u2019s family denounced Duterte\u2019s action as a grave injustice, including to the LGBTQ community, family lawyer Virginia Suarez said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Duterte is one of the most vocal critics in Southeast Asia of U.S. security policies. But on Monday he said, \u201cIf there is a time where you are called upon to be fair, be fair.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last week, the Regional Trial Court in Olongapo city, which handled Pemberton\u2019s case, ordered authorities to release him early from detention for good conduct, but Laude\u2019s family appealed, blocking the Marine\u2019s early release. Roque said the Department of Justice was planning a separate appeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The court order rekindled perceptions that American military personnel who run afoul of Philippine laws can get special treatment under the allies&#8217; Visiting Forces Agreement, which provides the legal framework for temporary visits by U.S. forces to the country for large-scale combat exercises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pemberton, an anti-tank missile operator from New Bedford, Massachusetts, was one of thousands of American and Philippine military personnel who participated in joint exercises in the country in 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He and a group of other Marines were on leave after the exercises and met Laude and her friends at a bar in Olongapo, a city known for its nightlife outside Subic Bay, a former U.S. Navy base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Laude was later found dead, her head slumped in a toilet bowl in a motel room, where witnesses said she and Pemberton had checked in. A witness told investigators that Pemberton said he choked Laude after discovering she was transgender.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/2014\/12\/15\/marine-charged-in-filipino-transgender-slaying\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635542281889210263-philippines-us-killin-votsjpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Marine charged in Filipino transgender slaying<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Philippine government prosecutors charged a U.S. Marine with murder Monday in the killing of a Filipino, saying the suspect acknowledged attacking the victim after he found out she was a transgender.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In December 2015, a judge convicted Pemberton of homicide, not the more serious charge of murder that prosecutors sought. The Olongapo court judge said at the time that she downgraded the charge because factors such as cruelty and treachery had not been proven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pemberton has been serving his sentence in a compound jointly guarded by Philippine and American security personnel at the main military camp in metropolitan Manila. The place of detention was agreed to under the terms of the Visiting Forces Agreement, although Laude\u2019s family had demanded that he be held in an ordinary jail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Garcia-Flores said his detention was shortened by authorities under a Philippine law that allows the reduction of prison terms for good conduct. Suarez said the law cannot apply to Pemberton, who has been detained alone in a military camp and given other special privileges under the VFA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The case has led to calls from some in the Philippines to end the U.S. military presence in the country, a former American colony with which Washington has a mutual defense treaty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Philippine president pardoned a U.S. Marine on Monday in a surprise move that will free him from imprisonment in the 2014 killing of a transgender Filipino woman that sparked anger in the former American 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