MANILA, Philippines—A presidential adviser stressed to the US Embassy that they would not accept having private first class Joseph Scott Pemberton detained inside the premises of the embassy like what happened in 2005 with Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith.
“Eventually, USS Peleliu will have to leave [for] operational requirements on a bigger defense picture. When that was given to us, we said right away that we would not accept for [Pemberton] to be brought to the US Embassy just like Daniel Smith,” retired general Eduardo Oban Jr. Executive Director of the Presidential Commission on the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), told reporters after a Senate hearing.
The amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu. AP
“We emphasized to the US government that this time [the Smith case] should not be [repeated],” he said.
Smith was convicted of raping a Filipina in 2006 and was sentenced to 40 years in jail but remained inside the premises of the US Embassy.
He was eventually acquitted by the Court of Appeals in 2009 after the victim known as “Nicole” retracted her testimony that she was raped.
Pemberton had previously been detained on board the USS Peleliu, docked at the port of Subic, after he allegedly killed Filipino transgender Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude in a motel room in Olongapo city last October 11, 2014.
He was transferred Wednesday morning to a joint Philippines-US facility inside Camp Aguinaldo but still under US custody. Pemberton is detained inside an air-conditioned 20-foot container van with its own bathroom and watched over by two US Marines: one inside and another outside.
“We would want that he be transferred to a facility that is inside Philippine sovereignty,” Oban said. “At least we can monitor his physical presence.”
Asked whether the US advised Philippine authorities that USS Peleliu had to leave and that Pemberton will be transferred inside the embassy, Oban said: “It will not be allowed.”
He said the Philippines objected to such an arrangement.
“They did not say they will bring [Pemberton] to the US Embassy but we said right away that this should not be a repeat of what happened with Daniel Smith who was confined inside the Embassy,” Oban said.
“This time we need to ensure, and assure our countrymen, that he will not be able to escape and he will remain here,” he said.
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