Van believed to be carrying Pemberton leaves Camp Aguinaldo, heads to NAIA

A white van believed to be transporting US Marine Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton left Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City at around 8 a.m. on Sunday.

The van is already in the vicinity of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport as of posting time, according to a report by Mark Makalalad on Dobol B sa News TV.

UPDATE: Convoy na pinaniniwalaang maghahatid kay U.S. Marines Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton para sa kanyang deportation, patungo na ng NAIA. | via @MMakalalad pic.twitter.com/XuT1viGHdb

— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) September 13, 2020

However, there is no visual confirmation that Pemberton is aboard the vehicle. Only the government  media  was allowed to cover the release of the US soldier.

Pemberton was convicted of homicide in 2015 for killing transgender Filipino woman Jennifer Laude in 2014.

He was scheduled to be released from his detention facility in Camp Aguinaldo on Sunday after he was recently granted absolute pardon by President Rodrigo Duterte and he fulfilled other requirements such as getting an NBI clearance and testing negative for COVID-19. 

Pemberton is currently under the custody of the Bureau of Immigration and set for deportation.

He was released by virtue of the absolute pardon given to him by Duterte just over five years into his service of a six-to-10-year prison sentence.

The absolute pardon extinguished Pemberton's criminal liability and rendered moot the emerging legal debate on whether he was entitled to early release for "good conduct."

Days before the pardon, a court in Olongapo ordered his release, saying he was considered to have served one month over his maximum penalty of 10 years because of good conduct time allowances (GCTA) on top of his actual time served.

Laude's family and public prosecutors were contesting the court order when Duterte granted the pardon.

Duterte said Pemberton was not duly monitored for GCTAs. He claimed that authorities did not treat the American fairly. —Joviland Rita/KG, GMA News