Laudes seek P200M for kin murder

Siblings of slain Filipino transgender Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude and his German fiancé, Marc Sueselbeck, top center, cry during a funeral procession on Oct. 24, 2014 in Olongapo city. The Armed Forces of the Philippines said Wednesday night it will no longer stop Sueselbeck from leaving the country. AP PHOTO/JUN DUMAGUING

OLONGAPO CITY—What price the murder of a transgender woman allegedly by an American soldier?

Relatives of slain transgender Filipino woman Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude have sought at least P200 million in moral and exemplary damages as the civil aspect was tackled in the continuation of the murder trial of US Marine Pfc. Joseph Scott Pemberton on Tuesday.

Harry Roque, lead counsel of the Laude family, said Laude’s sister, Marilou, had told the court that P100 million would compensate for the “agony that the family has to go through because Jennifer was treated like an animal.”

“The family also wants another P100 million for exemplary damages so other people, especially American soldiers, will know the cost of treating someone like Jennifer,” Roque told reporters during a break in the hearing.

Pemberton, who did not appear in court during the proceedings on Monday and Tuesday, is facing a murder charge for the death of Laude, who was found slumped in a toilet inside a motel bathroom here on Oct. 11 last year. A medico-legal report said Laude died of “asphyxia by drowning.”

Marilou, who took the stand during proceedings in the morning, was the first Laude relative that the prosecution presented in court.

“[The amount of] P100 million is for the pain we have suffered. [We are seeking] another P100 million so that this will warn other US servicemen not to treat people like what they did to my sister,” Marilou said at a press briefing.

‘Not enough’

She said the amount they were seeking was “still not enough because my sibling was killed in a gruesome manner.”

Virgie Suarez, another counsel for the family, said Laude’s mother, Julita, testified when the hearing resumed in the afternoon.

Suarez said Julita had to recall all the pain she felt the first time she saw her child inside a casket.

Julita, who faced reporters outside the courtroom, said it still pained her to recount her agony as a mother. “It’s very painful. I’m the mother so I know how much it means to lose my child,” she said.

“It’s not money that can compensate for a life that is lost… No amount of money can replace the life of my child. Not even Pemberton’s life can replace that of Jennifer’s,” she said.

Emotional

Suarez said the courtroom was filled with emotion when Julita was called to the stand.

“Even the counsels of the defense became emotional to the point that they had to refrain from cross-examining Nanay Julita,” Suarez said.

On Monday, two policemen testified for the prosecution.

Suarez said PO2 Jawlore Cruz and Chief Insp. Edmar de la Torre, both members of the Scene of Crime Operatives (Soco) of the Philippine National Police, were sent to Celzone Lodge on Magsaysay Avenue, where Laude was found dead.

She said Cruz was assigned to take photographic documentation of Laude’s remains.

“Cruz processed the crime scene and he identified all the photos taken by the Soco of Laude’s body in the motel bathroom,” Suarez told reporters after Monday’s hearing.

De la Torre, Suarez said, testified as the Soco team leader and as an “expert witness” who carried out the DNA testing of specimens gathered from used condoms recovered from the room.

Suarez said De la Torre told the court that he was given a “stand-down” order by the chief of the Olongapo City police after conducting a preliminary investigation to give way to the probe of the US Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

De la Torre was also involved in the DNA testing in the case of US Marine Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith, who was implicated in the 2005 rape case involving a Filipino woman identified only as “Nicole.”

Defense lawyers have yet to cross-examine De la Torre.

“The prosecution is halfway through the presentation of our witnesses and I’m confident that the one-year prescribed period to finish this trial will be met,” Suarez said.

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