MANILA – American serviceman Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton will be facing court martial proceedings in the United States following his deportation from the Philippines last Sunday.
In a press conference on Monday, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said he was informed about Pemberton’s court martial by the US officers during the pre-trial on his murder case to Filipino transgender Jennifer Laude.
“Pag-uwi raw po ni Pemberton tuloy pa rin ang kanyang court martial proceedings at doon po malalaman kung meron pang additional na parusa na ipapataw sa kanya at ‘yung qualification to remain in service,” said Roque.
Pemberton was convicted of homicide over the death of Laude whose lifeless body was found in a motel room in Olongapo City on Oct. 11, 2014.
Pemberton was sentenced to six to 10 years of imprisonment and had served over five years when an Olongapo judge ruled that he was entitled to be released given the GCTAs he supposedly earned on top of his actual time served.
Pemberton was released from detention last Friday by virtue of the absolute pardon granted to him by President Rodrigo Duterte just over five years into his service.
Meanwhile, Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Jaime Morente said the US soldier will now be banned from the Philippines as he will be tagged as an undesirable alien after being blacklisted by the bureau in 2015.
Morente added that Pemberton’s continued presence in the country is not conducive “for the safety, welfare, happiness, or good order of Philippine society” following his murder case.
“Upon completion of the required documents, we immediately implemented the deportation. He was escorted by BI agents to ensure that he had boarded his aircraft,” Morente said.
“His criminal case is separate from his immigration case. The Bureau saw that he is a risk to public safety, having been found guilty of the crime,” he added. “Hence he was tagged as an undesirable alien and will be expelled from the Philippines.”/PN
