Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Behind a high fence at the heart of Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City is the detention facility for Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton — the US Marine convicted of killing Filipino transgender woman Jennifer Laude.
Laude was killed two years ago in Olongapo City.
Read: Revisiting the Jennifer Laude murder case
Security in the facility is tight — members of the media are not allowed to get near the area.
The detention area is made from cargo containers converted into rooms. Tarpaulin sheets cover spaces in between the containers — apparently to make sure outsiders are given no glimpse of what goes on inside.
When CNN Philippines passed by the detention area on Tuesday, no activity could be detected in the facility. Even guards from the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), who are supposedly manning the facility, are nowhere in sight.
But the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), which owns the land on which Pemberton’s jail stands, confirmed Pemberton is still in the facility.
“Corporal Pemberton is inside the detention facility, particularly the Jusmag. And per arrangement with the Department of Justice, what we provided in is a detention facility. Just the facility. But with regards with the administration sa kanya as a detention prisoner, lahat yun ay [all that is] under the Bureau of Corrections,” said Col. Edgard Arevalo, the chief of the AFP Public Affairs Office.
BuCor Spokesman Inspector Sonny Del Rosario said Pemberton undergoes physical check-ups regularly.
“He’s being detained there. Talagang nakakulong. Hindi siya pwedeng lumabas [He’s really imprisoined. He cannot go out],” Del Rosario said.
The Court of Appeals still has to rule on Pemberton’s appeal. He petitioned for a review of the lower court’s decision in December last year.
A murder charge was filed against Pemberton, but Judge Roline Ginez-Jabalde lowered the charge to homicide and ruled to have him serve a six to 12-year jail term.
Read: Laude family on homicide ruling: We are not content, but at least Pemberton will be jailed
With Pemberton’s petition still pending before the Appeals Court, the Laude family is not resting easy. The family still feels Jennifer has yet to receive justice for her death.
Virgie Suarez, legal counsel for the Laudes, said they are hopeful the appellate court will uphold the lower court’s ruling.
“The family would like to put an end to this case also. Because for as long as there is an appeal… The appeal somehow prolongs their agony,” said Suarez.
Suarez said the Laudes welcome the recent pronouncement of President Rodrigo Duterte to end joint military exercises between the Philippines and the United States. Activist groups are also calling on the President to terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the U.S.
Read: Duterte serious about ending PH-U.S. joint exercises
The VFA is a treaty ratified by the Philippine Senate in 1999. It paved the way for joint military exercises between the two countries.
Article Nine of the VFA allows unilateral termination of the agreement as long as notice is given six months before the abrogation.
Pemberton was part of the joint U.S.-Philippines Marine exercises in 2014 when the killing happened.
Pemberton had taken Laude to a motel, where he supposedly strangled her to death after discovering that she was a transgender woman.
“The death or killing of Jennifer Laude is a result of Balikatan exercises. With the end of Balikatan exercises, there will be no more Jennifer Laude(s) in the future,” said Suarez.
Suarez said the Laude family will write a letter to President Duterte, to ask him to terminate the VFA. They also want the President to have Perberton transferred to the New Bilibid Prison — to serve his sentence like any other convict.
Related: Imprisonment at New Bilibid Prison unlikely for Pemberton
