Laude kin to ask BI not to allow Pemberton to leave Philippines while appeal is pending

The family of Jennifer Laude will ask the Bureau of Immigration (BI) not to allow American serviceman Joseph Scott Pemberton to leave the country while they are challenging a court order for his early release, their lawyer said Thursday.

Virginia Suarez, the family's legal counsel, said Pemberton should not be released while their motion for reconsideration is pending before the court.

"It should be the case. All orders of court become final and executory only after 10 days," she said.

She said she immediately filed a motion for reconsideration and sent copies to the Bureau of Corrections and the Office of the Solicitor General after she received the court order on Wednesday.

She said she will also write the BI.

Pemberton was ordered released despite having served only more than five years out of his sentence of six to 10 years. This was because the court took into account his good conduct time allowances (GCTA), which are given to prisoners who follow prison rules and regulations.

An Olongapo court said that Pemberton had served a total of 2,142 days and earned 1,548 GCTAs. Taken together, this amounts to 3,690 days, or 10 years, one month, and 10 days -- more than the 10-year maximum penalty imposed on him, according to the court.

In their motion for reconsideration, the Laude family said there is no proof of Pemberton's supposed good behavior. Pemberton is detained at Camp Aguinaldo.

"His conduct was never put to test as he never joined other convicts. Had he served his sentence in National Bilibid, maybe his application for good conduct would have some basis," they said.

The Supreme Court recently granted Pemberton's withdrawal of his petition seeking the reversal of his conviction. The case has been declared "closed and terminated."

Laude, a 26-year-old transgender woman, was found dead in the bathroom of a Celzone Lodge room in Olongapo City on October 11, 2014.

Pemberton was convicted of homicide in 2015. His conviction was affirmed by the Court of Appeals. —KBK, GMA News