Faces of the News: Sept. 6, 2020

ILLUSTRATION BY RENE ELEVERA

Joseph Scott Pemberton

When news came out that former US Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton had withdrawn an appeal to the Supreme Court to review his homicide conviction, the family of slain transgender woman Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude, 26, took it with a grain of salt.

Pemberton told the high court then that he already “accepted” and “recognized” that his 2015 conviction would become final and executory.

Laude was found dead on Oct. 11, 2014, in a motel in Olongapo City. During his trial, Pemberton admitted that he choked and killed Laude.

He was sentenced to six to 10 years in prison by Judge Roline Ginez-Jabalde of the Olongapo Regional Trial Court Branch 74. F

ive years into his jail term, Pemberton said he had served more than the maximum penalty with credits from good conduct time allowance and asked Jabalde to release him.

Laude’s family lawyer Virgie Lacsa-Suarez, opposed Pemberton’s release and filed a motion to deny his plea.

Pemberton is the second US serviceman convicted in the country after Marine Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith was found guilty of raping “Nicole” at Subic Bay Freeport in November 2005.

—Joanna Rose Aglibot

Dante Gierran

Newly appointed Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) President Dante Gierran has had a long history in government service, but not in public health. The former National Bureau of Investigation chief admitted this candidly in an interview right after he was named head of the embattled state insurer.

“I’m a little bit scared because … I do not know PhilHealth [and its] operations,” he said. Gierran, an official who rose from the ranks, has been given the herculean task of cleaning up PhilHealth after President Rodrigo Duterte asked its erstwhile chief, retired Army general Ricardo Morales, to resign.

The certified public accountant-lawyer is yet to be elected formally by the PhilHealth board.

Under the universal health care law, the agency’s chief “must have at least seven years of experience in the field of public health, management, finance and health economics or a combination of any of these expertise.”

At the homestretch of Gierran’s long stint at the NBI, the bureau probed fictitious PhilHealth claims submitted by a private dialysis center. Charges against regional officials and employees of the health insurer were later filed in court.

—Nikka G. Valenzuela

BTS

The super septet from South Korea shined with funk and soul after its first full English single “Dynamite” debuted at No. 1 at the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart.

They are the first Korean pop act to do so, dethroning the uber-viral “WAP” by rappers Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion with massive 300,000 first-week sales and 33.9 million streams.

The chart-topper, Forbes says, means BTS has “finally crossed the final frontier of superstardom” after seven years of beating world records, sold-out stadium tours and four consecutive No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 chart.

Releasing the vibrant retro track was not part of BTS’ plans this year. The boy band was supposed to go on a world tour following the release of their critically acclaimed studio album, “Map of the Soul: 7.”

But with pandemic fatigue gripping the world, leader RM said they wished the upbeat song “could offer a boost of spiritual energy to fans.”

“Dynamite” did that and more — shattering several YouTube and Spotify records on its first 24 hours before becoming the 43rd song in history to debut on top of the 62-year-old chart. With that marker crossed, BTS sets its eyes on the Grammys.

—Krixia Subingsubing

Aldin Ayo

Aldin Ayo came under fierce scrutiny for overseeing an unauthorized training session in a Sorsogon City gym, allegedly in violation of COVID-19 quarantine rules.

He resigned as coach of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Tigers late Friday night.

In a statement released initially through the Varsitarian, UST’s official student publication, Ayo apologized to all those who had been adversely affected by the team’s “activity” and expressed regret for the condemnation UST was “unnecessarily exposed to.”

The court mentor said he was taking responsibility for his actions and ready to face sanctions.

The activity was exposed after former team captain CJ Cansino decided to transfer to the University of the Philippines Maroons and posted on social media about the Tigers’ training at ABC Ideas gym in Barangay Capuy.

This prompted a probe to determine whether Ayo conducted the training despite a strict lockdown imposed by the government.

UST still awaits the University Athletic Association of the Philippines’ (UAAP) verdict. Ayo, who joined the Tigers in 2018, was responsible for reviving a battered basketball program and steering the team to their first UAAP Finals appearance since 2015.

—Denison Rey A. Dalupang

Shinzo Abe

Ulcerative colitis, a recurring bowel disease, has forced Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to resign on the last week of August, with one year left in his term. The same medical condition also forced him to quit the same position in 2007.

Already the longest serving prime minister of Japan, Abe offered profuse apologies to the people he had sworn to serve, saying he did not want his illness to hamper decision-making in the government.

The 65-year-old leader said he was sorry for the premature exit done “amid the coronavirus woes while various policies are still in the process of being implemented.”

Still, the staunch conservative known for his “reflationary” style of governance called “Abenomics” had also been parrying criticism for his handling of the pandemic in Japan.

Stock averages plunged following his announcement, wiping $4.7 billion of Tokyo’s $5.7 trillion stock market value.

His resignation has also triggered a leadership race in the dominant Liberal Democratic Party in Japan.

The Japanese Parliament must choose a new leader this month. Abe’s protégé and long-time assistant Yoshihide Suga has so far emerged as a favorite.