BY DHEL NAZARIO
The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) said Tuesday there will be no special process for the release of United States Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton.
“Kung ano ‘yung mga process doon sa mga pardon at parole at mga lumalaya ay ganun din po ‘yung ating gagawin. Only that we have to consider all implications ng ating ginagawa dahil itong PDL na ‘to covered nga siya ng ibang agreements,” BuCor spokesperson Gabriel Chaclag said in an interview over DZBB
Chaclag said they are conducting preparations for the release of Pemberton but are still awaiting for the original copy of the pardon order.
“Naka-stipulate po doon ‘yung ibang dapat gawin so on our part nagre-ready na po ‘yung ating mga personnel…kanya-kanya pong section ‘yan at handa na din po nilang gawin kung ano ‘yung Pemberton, who was convicted of homicide in December 2015 for the killing of transgender Jennifer Laude, was granted absolute pardon by the President on Monday.
Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra stressed that no one swayed President Duterte to grant Pemberton absolute pardon.
“I saw that the President’s decision to grant pardon to Pemberton was solely his own,” Guevarra said.
“No one prompted it,” the secretary added.
The secretary reminded that “granting executive clemency was the President’s constitutional prerogative.”
Guevarra recounted that even outgoing US Ambassador Sung Kim, who visited Malacanang on Monday, Sept. 7, did not expect Duterte to pardon Pemberton.
The secretary recounted “the US ambassador arrived for his farewell call on the President.”
“He seemed rather surprised when the President mentioned Pemberton’s pardon, and he thanked the President for it,” he said.
The President gave the pardon after Laude’s family opposed the Olongapo City court order granting the early release sought by Pemberton after crediting his good conduct time allowance (GCTA).
Lawyer Virginia Lacsa Suarez, the legal counsel of the Laude family, argued that there was no way that Pemberton accumulated GCTA since he is detained in Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City and not in any of the national penitentiary where his good conduct can be recorded.
“The President simply felt that it was not Pemberton’s fault that there was no way of recording his behavior in a military detention center all alone by himself,” said Guevarra.
“So since there were no reports of misbehavior, the presumption of good conduct was on his side,” he explained.
UNFAIR JUSTICE SYSTEM
A Catholic priest said the granting of absolute pardon to Pemberton is a manifestation of the unfair justice system under the present administration.
“The court order for early release and then subsequently an absolute pardon by President Duterte is yet another instance of an unfair justice system under this current administration,” Father Silvino Borres of the Coalition Against Death Penalty said in an interview Tuesday.
He expressed hope that President Duterte will grant pardon to other inmates who are more deserving.
“We are hoping he would extend the same benevolence to thousand other inmates who are deserving than Pemberton,” Borres said.
Retired Novaliches Bishop Teodoro Bacani is hoping that the President will also be as kind to Filipinos.
“I hope the president will be as kind to us Filipinos, especially the erring ones like drug addicts, his critics and activists,” he said.
Still, Bacani believes it was a “good decision,” as it will give the marine another chance in life. (with reports from Leslie Ann Aquino and Jeffrey Damicog)
