Laudes sue VFA exec, 11 Pemberton guards for contempt

OLONGAPO CITY—The family of slain transgender Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude on Monday filed contempt charges against an official of the Presidential Commission on the Visiting Forces Agreement (PCVFA) and 11 American soldiers for defying an Olongapo City judge’s initial ruling to jail convicted US Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City.

In the petition filed in the Regional Trial Court here, lawyer Harry Roque Jr., lead counsel of the Laude family, asked the court to cite Eduardo Oban Jr., executive director of the PCVFA, and the 11 American soldiers in indirect contempt for refusing to turn Pemberton over to local authorities after his conviction on Dec. 1.

Judge Roline Ginez-Jabalde of RTC Branch 74 found Pemberton guilty of homicide in the killing of Laude in an Olongapo City motel room in October last year. Witnesses identified Pemberton as the foreigner who checked into the motel with Laude.

Jabalde had initially directed the Philippine National Police to detain Pemberton at the NBP pending an agreement between the Philippine and US governments on where the Marine would be held.

This triggered a standoff after the reading of the verdict on Dec. 1 when Pemberton’s security escorts refused to hand him over to the local police.

The standoff ended when Jabalde allowed Pemberton to be temporarily held at the Armed Forces of the Philippines custodial center in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City. From the court here, Pemberton, however, was taken to the Joint United States Military Advisory Group facility inside Camp Aguinaldo, the same facility where he was held for more than a year during his trial.

On Dec. 8, Jabalde directed Pemberton to serve his sentence at the AFP custodial center under the supervision of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor). She later amended her Dec. 1 order after Oban delivered to the court the Philippine-US memorandum of agreement detailing how and where Pemberton would serve his sentence under the terms of the VFA.

Roque said Oban and the 11 American guards should be held liable for indirect contempt for “violating and refusing to obey” the court’s original commitment order.

“These actions are in clear disobedience and violation of the lawful order of the court to temporarily detain him at the AFP custodial center under the supervision of the [BuCor],” Roque said in the petition. Allan Macatuno, Inquirer Central Luzon