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And why should Aquino go to the wake of Jennifer Laude? Who he/she?

October 23, 2014October 23, 2014 Ellen Leave a comment

Jennifer Laude’s mother at her wake. From Bulatlat.

Totoo naman. Bakit nga naman inaasahan natin pumunta si Pangulong Aquino sa lamay ni Jennifer Laude?
Sino ba si Jennifer Laude? Hindi naman siya kamag-anak ng mga Aquino. Hindi naman siya haciendera katulad ng mga Cojuangco-Aquino. Hindi naman siya sundalo. Hindi naman siya miyembro ng Liberal Party. Hindi naman siya nanay o asawa ng miyembro ng Liberal Party.

Asked last Wednesday by Raul Dancel of The Singapore Straits Times during a forum with the Foreign Correspondents Association if he was going to the wake of Laude, the transgender who was murdered by a member of the United States Marines Corps last Oct. 11, Aquino said he doesn’t go to wakes of people he doesn’t know.

His complete answer: “You know, in general, I don’t attend wakes of people I don’t know. I find it—and I’m speaking for myself—I’m uncomfortable in trying to condole with people who don’t know me and… Parang how can I say that I really sympathize with their loss and have some relevant discussion with them on trying to assuage, ‘di ba, their loss at that point in time? If I know the person somehow or the person is close to me… For instance, I went to the wake of the mother of Governor (Alfonso) Umali recently. The mother of Governor Umali had entertained me in her house in the years previous and Governor Umali is very close friend. In Leyte, I went to the unanticipated demise of the wife of Congressman Boying Cari, and I had a chance to talk also to his children—the eldest is 23 and the youngest is Grade Six. As a general rule, I attend wakes wherein there are some connections, so that ‘yung I don’t want to be a burden but rather I want to help them at their time of grief.”

No one can accuse Aquino of not being transparent. He does not bother masking his arrogance.

Really, why would Aquino go to Jennifer Laude’s wake? Who is she? She is not a relative. She is not in his class. She is not a member of the Liberal party like Oriental Mindoro Governor Alfonso Umali, treasurer of the LP and Rep. Jose Carlos Cari of Leyte’s 5th district.

I asked Fr. Eliseo Mercado for his reaction. He pointed out three things:

First, “PNoy is the President and he is known to almost all Filipinos.”

Second, “All the while he keeps mouthing the Filipino people are his bosses. Jennifer belonged to the people – his bosses. Or this is purely for sound bytes?”

Third, “Jennifer was murdered brutally, that is, beating and drowning in a toilet bowl by US Marine – part of VFA (Visiting Forces Agreement). Since he likes the VFA, at least he should sympathize with victim of VFA.”

Anne de Bretagne commented in Facebook: “To be perfectly honest, I don’t think the president should be expected to attend the wake of Jennifer – the deceased was not a member of his political family nor was a serving member of the military but if interviewed or challenged to attend the wake, he should mouth a less callous answer and show a bit of empathy, something expected of the president of the republic no less!”

I commented that being tactless seems to be an Aquino trait. The President’s sister is dubbed as “taklesa.”

This is not the first time that Aquino has made insensitive comments. Last year, in a post-Yolanda community meeting in Tacloban, a businessman complained about the breakdown of law and order in the typhoon-devastates city. Aquino snapped at him: “But you did not die, right?”

Movie Director Joey Reyes in a Facebook comment underscored two points: “First, some people mistake tactlessness with brutal honesty, insensitivity for frankness or even wit. Second, empathy is a quality that defines integrity in leadership and sincerity in the responsibilities that come with the position. Enough said.”

Being honest is being truthful.

Being tactless is being rude and inconsiderate.

It is a mark of a person’s maturity to be honest and truthful and still be considerate and mindful of somebody’s feelings.

Going around social media are pictures of the funeral marches of President Aquino’s parents: Benigno Aquino, Jr in 1983 and Cory Aquino in 2009.

The thousands of people who paid their last respects to his parents didn’t know them personally. But they lined up and marched. It said a lot of the Filipino people.

In the same way, Aquino’s statement why he is not going to Jennifer Laude’s wake says a lot about his person and his quality as a leader.

Aquino’s deafening silence on the killing of Jennifer Laude

October 19, 2014October 19, 2014 Ellen Leave a comment

Thanks to Bulatlat for photo.

The silence of President Aquino on the murder of a Filipino transgender by a member of the United States Marine Corps more than a week ago in Olongapo City is deafening.

Jennifer Laude, 26, a citizen of this country was killed brutally (severely beaten, strangled, drowned , her head shoved in the toilet bowl) almost midnight of Oct. 11 by Private First Class Joseph Scott Pemberton, who is here as part of the PH-US military exercises.

More than a week has passed and not a word of concern from the President of the Philippines.
No representative from Malacañang nor from the Department of Foreign Affairs has visited the grieving family of Laude.

Foreign Affairs Spokesman Charles Jose said a staff of the Department of Social Welfare and Development met with the Laude family which shows that the Aquino government does not consider this case as a foreign affairs issue. To them, it’s a social services matter no different from a people drowning in floods.

If the silence of the President is deafening, the statements coming from his spokespersons are appalling showing their ignorance on the issue that affects the integrity and sovereignty of the country.

Last Friday, to justify the lack of interest of the Aquino government in asserting the Philippine government’s right to have custody of Pemberton, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte, told reporters “We have a standing agreement with the US that in cases like these, the Philippines has criminal jurisdiction, while the US has custody over the suspect. The same agreement does not stop us from asking for custody.”

What agreement is Valte talking about? There is no agreement, standing or sitting, that gives the US automatic custody over the suspect without the consent of the Philippine government.

If Valte was referring to the agreement signed by then Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo and U.S. Ambassador Kristie Kenny in 2006 on the controversial detention of Lance Corporal Daniel Smith who was convicted of rape of a Filipina in Subic, that was declared by the Supreme Court illegal, in violation of the PH-US Visiting Force Agreement that governs the legality of the presence of American soldiers in the country.

The February 2009 SC decision penned by Associate Justice Adolfo S. Azcuna states,
“… the Romulo-Kenney Agreements of December 19 and 22, 2006 are DECLARED not in accordance with the VFA, and respondent Secretary of Foreign Affairs is hereby ordered to forthwith negotiate with the United States representatives for the appropriate agreement on detention facilities under Philippine authorities as provided in Art. V, Sec. 10 of the VFA….”

Art. V, Sec. 10 of the VFA provides that “The confinement or detention by Philippine authorities of United States personnel shall be carried out in facilities agreed on by appropriate Philippine and United States authorities.”

The Feb. 2009 decision by the High Court tackled the issue of detention after conviction, which was what was being questioned in the complaint, and not during trial.

The SC decision states,” It is clear that the parties to the VFA recognized the difference between custody during the trial and detention after conviction, because they provided for a specific arrangement to cover detention. And this specific arrangement clearly states not only that the detention shall be carried out in facilities agreed on by authorities of both parties, but also that the detention shall be “by Philippine authorities.” Therefore, the Romulo-Kenney Agreements of December 19 and 22, 2006, which are agreements on the detention of the accused in the United States Embassy, are not in accord with the VFA itself because such detention is not “by Philippine authorities.”

Harry Roque, the lawyer of the Laude family, said the Aquino government erred big-time when it surrendered custody over Pemberton without even the Americans asking for it.

Article V Section 6 of the VFA , “the custody of any United States personnel over whom the Philippines is to exercise jurisdiction shall immediately reside with United States military authorities, if they so request…”
Justice Undersecretary Jose Justiniano is of the same opinion as Roque that under the VFA, in order for the US government to have custody, they have to make a request.

“The law stated that the US government has to take a request, so, the implication is that we do have the primary custody.”

The U.S. government did not have to make a request for custody over Pemberton because the Aquino government gave it up voluntarily. That’s why it’s lamentable to hear DFA Spokesman Charles Jose and VFA Commission head Eduardo Oban bowing to US authority over Pemberton with nary an effort to assert Philippine authority over an offender in Philippine territory.

As we mourn the death of Jennifer Laude, we should also weep over our government officials’ surrender to the Americans of Philippine dignity and sovereignty.

U.S. custody of Pemberton denigrates PH sovereignty

October 14, 2014October 14, 2014 Ellen Leave a comment

Facebook account of Joseph Scott Pemberton.

The suspected killer of transgender Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude, Private First Class Joseph Scott Pemberton of the US Marine Corps 2nd Battalion 9th Marines, is in the custody of the United States.

A statement by the U.S. Embassy in Manila said Pemberton “ is being held onboard USS Peleliu while a joint Naval Criminal Investigative Service and Philippine National Police investigation is conducted. The United States will continue to fully cooperate with Philippine law enforcement authorities in every aspect of the investigation.”

USS Peleliu, which is in Subic Bay for PHIBLEX 15, a joint amphibious landing exercise, was due to leave Tuesday but its departure was put on hold because of this crime involving one of the American soldiers.

Jennifer Laude

Laude, 26 years old, was found dead Saturday night with her head slumped in the toilet bowl in one of the rooms of Celzone Lodge in Olongapo City after Pemberton, with whom she checked in with, had left the room.

In a press briefing, Foreign Affairs Spokesman Charles Jose justified U.S custody of Pemberton by quoting Article V, Section 6 of the 1998 PH-US Visiting Forces Agreement which states that, “The custody of any United States personnel over whom the Philippines is to exercise jurisdiction shall immediately reside with United States military authorities, if they so request, from the commission of the offense until completion of all judicial proceedings.”

Does it mean that the U.S. made the request for custody of Pemberton and the Philippines granted it? Who of the Philippine officials granted the request of the Americans?

Jose didn’t give that information.

He even said that the DFA will request the United States to waive custody of Pemberton but “there is no guarantee that the US will grant this request.”

Armed Forces Chief Gregorio Catapang is of the same mind as foreign affairs officials.”Under the Visiting Forces Agreement, the custody of the erring soldier stays with the Americans,” Catapang said after a meeting with the U.S. Pacific commander, Admiral Samuel Locklear.

Justice Undersecretary Jose Justiniano has a different interpretation of the VFA provision.

He said “The law stated that the US government has to take a request, so, the implication is that we do have the primary custody.”

Justiniano should know. He was the counsel for Lance Corporal Keith Silkwood – one of the four accused of in the 2005 rape case of a Filipina in Olongapo.( Silkwood and his two other co-accused were acquitted. Only Lance Corporal Daniel Smith was convicted.)

So we are back to the question who waived the primary right of the Philippines for custody over Pemberton?
Lawyer Harry Roque, chairperson of Center for International Law and teaches constitutional law and international law at the University of the Philippines College of Law, underscored the non-service related offense of Pemberton which makes custody by Philippine authorities over him compelling.

The ampbious assault ship Peleliu in Subic Bay , where Pemberton is now confined.(US Navy photo)

The killing of Laude did not happen during the military exercise. Pemberton did not do it while in performance of his duty. Roque said Pemberton should not be entitled to the protection given by the VFA to American personnel participating in joint military exercises.

It must be stressed here the difference between custody and jurisdiction.

There is no question about Philippine jurisdiction over U.S. personnel with respect to offenses committed within the Philippines and punishable under the law of the Philippines.

It’s the issue of custody that is problematic even during the VFA negotiations because of the inhuman conditions of Philippine detention centers.

In the case of Daniel Smith, he was detained at the U.S. Embassy, which is considered a U.S. territory.

Centerlaw’s Romel Bagares said “A resolution dated January 28, 2014 in a case we filed to compel the DFA to renegotiate with US authorities on an ‘agreed facility’ for the detention of US servicemen being tried or convicted for a crime on Philippine soil, the Supreme Court took note of the fact that the Philippines has suggested to their American counterparts the AFP Custodial Center as one such ‘facility.’

The DFA and the AFP chief’s subservient stance on U.S. custody over Pemberton denigrates Philippine sovereignty – the supreme right of the state to command obedience within its territory.

With a diminished sovereignty, what does that make of the Philippines?