Teachers group demands PH detention of US soldier

TEACHERS and educators rallied outside the US embassy in the Philippines last Friday to protest the continuing custody of the American government of Pfc Joseph Scott Pemberton, a US soldier tagged in the murder of Jennifer Laude and called for the immediate junking of Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca).

“No special treatment and protection for the American soldier tagged as the perpetrator of the killing of a Filipino transgen- der Jeffrey Laude. With the confirmed reports that US servicemen were involved in the brutal murder of Filipino transgender Jeffrey Laude, the Visiting Forces Commission must render swift justice to the victim and the Filipino in general. The case of Daniel Smith who raped Nicole must not be forgotten. Daniel Smith was acquitted by the Court of Appeals in 2009 because Nicole was pressured to save face for the actions of the US Embassy to mend US-Philippine relations.

‘Enough! The victim,

Jeffrey Laude must be given justice. The suspected US servicemen must be named and tried in our courts no less,” France Castro said.

The suspect who is now under the custody of the US government should be immediately turned over to the Philippine government for all the necessary prosecution processes. Provisions of the Visiting Forces Agreement must not be used as an excuse for the US government to hold the soldier in their custody. This is a matter which involves Philippine sovereignty and criminal jurisdiction. VFA is just an agreement and should not reign over our laws. We call also on the Philippine government to observe transparency over the case and should promote the interest of the victim and the Filipino people,” said Mr. Carl Ramota, ACT for Sovereignty spokesperson.

“As we have said bef ore, foreign military agreements like the Visiting Forces Agreement and Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca) will just lead us to further vulnerabilities with abuses and excesses of foreign powers like the United States. Their bullying is made legal through these agreements. This serves as a lesson for us and is now an additional reason for us to boldly call for the junking of both Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and Enhanced Development Cooperation Agreement (Edca),” he added. PR