"Mr. Roque should keep his mouth shut on this one."
American soldier Joseph Scott Pemberton, who was convicted of killing transgender Jennifer Laude at a motel in Olongapo City, has been ordered released by the Olongapo Regional Trial Court. He is now at a prison stockade at Camp Aguinaldo.
Now the matter has become a national issue – the Department of Justice is involved, ordering the Solicitor General to join as well.
The judge said Pemberton had already served more than ten years – the maximum sentence – taking his Good Conduct Time Allowance into consideration.
The court said that by its calculation, Pemberton had served 1, 548 days under the GCTA. Taken together with actual time served, he had been in detention for 3,690 days or 10 years, one month and 10 days, thus exceeding the penalty imposed on him by the court.
The family of Laude immediately filed a motion for reconsideration, prompting the Bureau of Customs to suspend Pemberton’s release. The family argued that Pemberton was not qualified under the GCTA rule because he was alone in the stockade. How could anybody determine his good conduct, they asked.
They also argued that as an American soldier who came to the Philippines under the Visiting Forces Agreement, Pemberton cannot qualify for GCTA. His situation is different from the situation of other Filipino convicts.
Pemberton’s lawyer, meanwhile, rejected these arguments, saying that since the soldier was convicted under Philippine laws, he is entitled to equal protection and thus qualified for GCTA.
I do not know yet how things would turn out, but the case is the first of its kind under an existing treaty between the United States and the Philippines.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque, who used to be the lawyer of Laude’s family, said the decision was “judicial overreach.” I don’t agree with him. What I know is that he should just keep quiet because people might mistake his statements as coming from the Palace.
It is quite obvious that Roque’s words have influenced the DOJ and the Office of the Solicitor General. He must remember he is now a presidential spokesman, no longer a private lawyer!
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There has been so much bad news about the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s a relief to hear good things. Health Secretary Francisco Duque, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. and representatives from the Office of the President are now talking about early deliveries for vaccines from many sources: Russia, the United States, and pharmaceutical firms Sanofi, Roche and Pfizer.
Other vaccines are being tested.
Still, my wife and I rely only on the World Health Organization’s words that it will not prematurely endorse any vaccines. I want to be sure that these are proven safe and effective. I would not want to be a guinea pig.
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There are proposals at the House of Representatives that President Duterte should be given emergency powers to clean up Philippine Health Insurance Corp.
Graft and corruption at that agency has been so bad, running into the billions of pesos.
I don’t think there is a need for emergency powers. Lawmakers should be reminded that the President, under the Governance Act of 2011, can reorganize, abolish or privatize PhilHealth if he thinks it should. This will be, of course, upon the recommendation of the Governance Commission on Government-Owned and -Controlled Corporations. The President already enjoys vast powers to clean up GOCCs, including PhilHealth, under this law.
So why waste time and resources discussing the issue?
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I received a reaction to my column that newly appointed PhilHealth president and CEO Dante Gierran should be given a chance to prove himself. As a journalist for 70 years, I have observed that when a “novato” gets appointed to an agency, he needs at least six months to learn the intricacies of his job. He will be advised by old-timers and insiders from that agency.
Gierran has admitted he does not know anything about public health. Thus, he will depend on advisers who may have been part of the anomalies themselves.
I am not saying he would fail. I’m just wishing him good luck.
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Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte wrote me a beautiful note after I wrote that column about a brazen attempt to bribe her in connection with the purchase of tablets to be distributed to thousands of public school children for online learning once the school year starts next month.
Thank you very much, Joy.
As I said, Mayor Joy was raised well by her parents, former QC mayor Sonny Belmonte and her late mother Betty Go, both very close friends of my wife and myself.
I see that Mayor Joy is doing very well. May her tribe increase. We need more local executives like her.