“This is a travesty of Philippine sovereignty and democracy,” said lawyer Virgie Lacsa-Suarez, who represented the family of Jennifer Laude. Laude was killed by US Marine Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton after the American soldier picked her up.She said Laude’s killing was a mirror of the “systematic discrimination and violence inflicted by the US on Filipino women, children and the LGBTQ community.
LGBTQ rights group True Colors Coalition-Pilipinas condemned the presidential pardon to Pemberton, saying it showed that the Duterte administration was “subservient” to the US government. Lawyer Rowena Garcia-Flores, Pemberton’s counsel, said she was “in disbelief” after learning about the absolute pardon of her client.“As a lawyer, the President knows that we didn’t ask for what was not according to the law,” Flores said in a television interview.