True Colors Coalition (TCC) is disappointed with the court’s decision to downgrade the murder of Jennifer Laude to homicide even if Joseph Scott Pemberton was found guilty and convicted for it. This decision only shows how the LGBTs are still not fully recognized and our rights to live freely continues to be violated and denied to us. The court did not recognize cruelty, and excessive use of force; this means undermining the brutality Jennifer suffered from the hands of Pemberton.
More so, we are aggravated by the Department of Justice’s opinion siding with the request of the US representatives to continue to have Pemberton’s custody and jurisdiction under the JUSMAG facility in Camp Aguinaldo. It is also infuriating that after the judge had issued the decision, she reversed the part of detaining Pemberton in the National Bilibid Prison to give leeway to the US’s request instead of upholding her first and original decision. This is a clear mockery of our laws and to the Philippines’ sovereignty. It only shows that we cannot impose our own laws inside the country especially if it’s the US that is involved. It is as if our justice system is protecting the accused instead of the victim, and serving the US’s interest instead of the Filipino people.
What happened on the promulgation day is a partial victory. Let it be known that we do not deserve anything less.
We vow to continue to fight for genuine justice that we deserve. We want to see Pemberton rot inside a Philippine jail. We want him to pay for his crime against our sister and the Filipino people.
Ultimately, we want the Philippine government to stop its unequal relation with the US that puts women, children, and LGBT people’s lives in danger. We firmly believe that the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) played a big role in the court’s decision and how our government treated this case, and the results on the promulgation day prove that the VFA and EDCA should be put to an end. Stop US militarism in the country and the whole world.
PHOTOS BY MS. BETH NUCUP, COURTESY OF TRUE COLORS COALITION
