BuCor, not military, in charge of releasing Pemberton, says AFP

MANILA, Philippines—The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said on Wednesday that the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) continues to be in charge of US Marine Lance Corporal Scott Pemberton as it does other convicts in prison.

Maj. Gen. Edgard Arevalo, AFP spokesperson, said the military learned of a local court’s release order for Pemberton only through media. Pemberton has been convicted of killing Filipino transgender woman Jennifer Laude in 2015.

Although Pemberton is currently in the AFP custodial facility, Arevalo said “the compliance to that order of the court will have to be done by the Bureau of Corrections, not the Armed Forces of the Philippines.”

But he said the AFP will help BuCor in facilitating the release of Pemberton to heed the court order.

“Pemberton is at the AFP Custodial Facility only by virtue of a Memorandum of Agreement between the AFP and BuCor,” the AFP spokesperson said.

Part of the agreement tasked the AFP with providing the detention facility for Pemberton with the BuCor retaining management and administration of detainees convicted of crimes.

Based on the Sept. 1 decision of the Olongapo City Regional Trial Court’s Branch 74, Pemberton will soon walk free ahead of his 10-year prison term because of good conduct.

He served only five years and eight months of his jail term so far but the Olongapo court said his good conduct time allowances totalled 1,548 days, or worth more than four years, which brought the American an accumulated jail time of 10 years and one month.

TSB

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