Laude sis sues Oban for disobedience over Pemberton detention

The sister of slain transgender woman Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude on Wednesday sued Undersecretary Eduardo Oban Jr., head of the Presidential Commission on the Visiting Forces Agreement, over the detention of US Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton at Camp Aguinaldo.

 

In a complaint filed with the Department of Justice, Marilou Laude accused Oban of open disobedience under Article 231 of the Revised Penal Code, relative to the execution of an order from the Regional Trial Court Branch 74 in Olongapo City last December 1.

 

In sentencing Pemberton to six to 12 years in prison for homicide, the court ordered Pemberton’s detention at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.

 

The judge, however, revised the order after Oban manifested in open court that the Philippine and US governments, under the VFA, had agreed to hold Pemberton at the Armed Forces of the Philippines Custodial Center in Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

 

Marilou said despite the court order, Oban and 11 unnamed US Security Personnel guarding Pemberton “openly refused to execute the order of the court and brought Pemberton not to the AFP Custodial Center but to the detention facility of the Joint US Military Assistance Group (JUSMAG), Camp Aguinaldo.”

 

Marilou said Oban “openly defied” the court when he “failed to commit Pemberton to the AFP Custodial Center and delivered him instead to the JUSMAG detention facility.”

 

“There was no instruction to bring the convicted US Marine to any other detention cell aside from the AFP Custodial Center in Camp Aguinaldo, much more to the Joint US Military Assistance Group detention facility.”

 

Marilou said Oban did not also seek clarification or any other recourse from the Olongapo court on where to keep Pemberton should the custodial center be unavailable for his detention. This, she said, “pre-empted” the court from ruling on the matter.

 

The Laude family on Monday asked the Olongapo court to cite Oban and the 11 US personnel in indirect contempt for refusing to transfer Pemberton to the national penitentiary. —ALG, GMA News