BY JEFFREY DAMICOG
Former Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te said Friday that the Department of Justice (DoJ) should be the one asking the court to stop the release of United States Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton and not the family of slain transgender Jennifer Laude.
“Under the Rules of Criminal Procedure, the control and supervision of any criminal case is given to the public prosecutor in this case the DoJ,” Te explained during an interview over CNN Philippines.
The Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) Metro Manila coordinator stressed his point after the family filed last Wednesday a motion for reconsideration asking the Olongapo City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 74 to recall its order releasing Pemberton.
“So the private complainant is only allowed to participate in so far as enforcing or safeguarding the private rights, in this case, the damages,” the lawyer said.
Since a check for P4.6 million was already paid in August to the Laude family in compliance with the court order as civil damages, Te said the damages has been “fully complied with.”
RTC Branch 74 Judge Roline Ginez-Jabalde issued the release order after granting the motion of Pamberton seeking his early release based on the good conduct time allowance (GCTA) credits he accumulated.
Te explained the judge has to determine two things before granting Pemberton’s motion and these are the legal and factual basis.
“’Yun ‘yung titingnan n’ya diyan, disqualified ba ito. Kung hindi siya disqualified, ‘yun bang pagbawas, meron bang objective basis ‘yun (We have to determine if he is disqualified. If he is not, is there an objective basis to reduce the prison time),” he explained.
“Kasi that’s the whole premise of the GCTA, this person has actually shown good conduct,” Te pointed out.
Pemberton was convicted of homicide in 2015 for the 2014 killing of Jennifer. He was sentenced to suffer six to 10 years of imprisonment.
Since his conviction, he has been detained in Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City in accordance with the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).
“It’s not a usual place of detention. What is the objective basis for saying that this person has actually shown good conduct?” asked the lawyer.
On the other hand, Te admitted there seems to be no legal basis to disqualify Pemberton from also benefiting from the GCTA Law.
“The law has specific disqualifications. Mukha naman hindi siya disqualified.” the former SC spokesman said.
Amid arguments that Pemberton is not qualified to benefit from the GCTA Law being an American covered under the VFA, Te reminded that the Constitution states that “no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of the law nor should any person should be denied equal protection of the laws.”
“Now the VFA itself does not say so, it does not expressly say that the equal protection of the law does not apply,” he added. (Jefftrey Damicog)
