President Rodrigo Duterte said it was only fair to grant US Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph Pemberton absolute pardon because he was "not treated fairly."
Duterte said the government, specifically the Philippine Marines, failed to keep a record of Pemberton's jail time.
"You have not treated Pemberton fairly so i-release ko. Pardon. Ang pardon walang question yan," he said in an address to the nation Monday evening.
"The Marines never kept a record, di nila trabaho yan…Hindi kasalanan ni Pemberton. Hindi siya required to keep a record of his own….Allow him good character presumption kasi wala naman nagreport na nagkakalat siya sa loob or he destroys things," the President added.
The President said he was not favoring Pemberton and that he only wanted to be fair.
"If there is a time you are called to be fair, be fair," he said.
Perhaps anticipating backlash from critics who may compare his fairness to Pemberton to his administration's bloody war on drugs, Duterte said: "If you ask me kung fair ako sa durugistan, I say be cruel. Be cruel."
The American soldier was convicted of killing Filipino transgender woman Jennifer Laude in 2014.