Pemberton pardon grounded on 'broader national interest' —Roque

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Thursday said he respects the decision of President Rodrigo Duterte to grant absolute pardon to homicide convict US Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton.

Duterte pardoned Pemberton on Monday, days after Roque denounced the ruling of an Olongapo City court ordering the American serviceman's release from detention nearly six years after killing Filipino transgender woman Jennifer Laude in October 2014 in a fit of rage in a motel.

A former lawyer of the Laude family, Roque in his latest statement said: “I respect the wisdom of the President, which is grounded on a broader national interest.”

Roque did not elaborate though he previously said that extending pardon to a person convicted of a crime is an exclusive prerogative of the President.

But on September 3, Roque said  that Pemberton's release was questionable. 

Amid speculations  and rage over the President’s decision, Roque maintained that the Palace’s position to terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States remains unchanged, “albeit the suspension is lifted for six months as we need the cooperation of the US and other many countries in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.”

In critcizing the granting of absolute pardon to Pemberton, the Commision on Human Rights said Duterte's move was an affront to the LGBTQI community.

Vice President Leni Robredo also questioned the presidential clemency, saying "Patas at makatarungan ba ito?"

On the other hand, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. said the US did not ask for the pardon. Even outgoing US Ambassador Sung Kim, who made a farewell call on Duterte on Monday in Malacañang, was surprised, he said.

Roque, meanwhile, said he and the President share the “same deep conviction on major policy issues affecting the country, such as charting an independent foreign policy course and zero tolerance against corruption.”

“Having said these, we as members of the President’s official family will be guided by President Duterte’s policy pronouncements and will continuously and faithfully serve the Filipino people in its last two years to bring about the genuine change this nation truly deserves,” he said. —LBG, GMA News