CREDIT: REUTERS/ERIK DE CASTRO
Philippine President Benigno Aquino on Wednesday (October 22) defended the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States amid calls to scrap the treaty after an American serviceman was charged with the murder of a Filipino transgender.
U.S. Private First Class Joseph Scott Pemberton is accused of murdering Jeffrey Laude, who also went by the name Jennifer, in Olongapo City, about 50 km (30 miles) north of Manila.
Speaking at an annual forum of the Foreign Correspondents Association of thePhilippines, Aquino said the case will not affect the existing military agreement with the United States.
“The treaty serves a purpose for our country as it serves a purpose for America. We’re imperfect beings and this is an imperfect world. One instance of things I believe nobody really wants to happen has happened but the tragedy will be settled and the guilty will be made to answer for the crime,” he said.
Under the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), the Philippines is supposed to exercise jurisdiction over such crimes. Some lawmakers and activists have called on the government to terminate the VFA unless the United States hands him over.
Aquino played down criticism that the government is not doing enough to ensure that Pemberton would not receive special treatment, noting that he was detained even though no case had yet been filed in the Philippine court.
“We’re still in the preliminary investigation stage. He is in our camp, Aguinaldo, and of course no American camps are permitted under our constitution, so even before there is a requirement for him to be in custody, he’s actually being made available for the investigative and eventually the judicial process,” he said.
“The fundamental point that has to be raised – if there’s a crime committed there has to be a finding of the guilty party and accumulation of the necessary evidence to make this person answer for the crimes before our courts, and I think that is being done,” Aquino added.
Earlier on Wednesday, Pemberton was transferred to a facility at the Philippine Armed Forces in Manila from the USS Peleliu, an amphibious assault ship where he was confined, which is docked in Subic Bay, a former U.S. Navy base next toOlongapo.
The Philippine military said Pemberton was still in the custody of the U.S. under the VFA, and will stay at the facility while the preliminary investigation is ongoing.
Olongapo prosecutors have summoned Pemberton to appear on October 27 as part of a preliminary investigation after a non-appearance at a hearing on Tuesday (October 21).
In Jakarta, Indonesia, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry assured thePhilippines that Washington was not seeking special treatment for the American marine but wanted his rights protected.
A former colony of the United States, the Philippines is the oldest and closest security partner of Washington in the Asia-Pacific region.
The two sides in April signed a new 10-year security pact that allows for a larger U.S. military presence in the country as it struggles to raise its defence capabilities amid territorial disputes with China.
Aquino said the defence and foreign ministries were working with the U.S. Embassy in Manila to resolve the issue of Pemberton’s custody.
Source: REUTERS/ARMED FORCES OF THE PHILIPPINES HANDOUT
