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US Marine L/Cpl Joseph Scott Pemberton attends a hearing in 2015. Photo: GMA News/scoopnest.com
n the evening of October 11, 2014, 19-year-old US Marine Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton must have been all set for a grand time on the town. On shore leave in what to him must have been exotic Olongapo City, he was half a world away from his hometown of New Bedford, Massachusetts. Like many his age, Pemberton gravitated towards the bar scene, ending up in a disco bar called Ambyanz.
There, Pemberton met what he thought were two young women, 26-year-old Jennifer Laude, and her friend Barbie Gelviro. Laude and Gelviro were, in fact, both transgender. Laude must have been attracted to the young, good-looking marine because shortly thereafter, they both walked over to a nearby motel called the Celzone Lodge.
We all know what happened next: Pemberton killed Laude "in the heat of passion" after he realized she was not the pretty female he thought she was, but a male like him. He was tried and eventually sentenced to 6 to 12 years for the crime. He had already served five years behind bars when Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced that he was granting Pemberton an absolute pardon.
But Pemberton's departure leaves us with a few lingering questions that have yet to be answered. Media reports never told us why Laude was at the Ambyanz disco bar that night. Was she there for a few drinks with Gelviro? Was she a regular there? Did she have any kind of financial relationship with Ambyanz? Some bars and discos hire attractive women to sit with male customers to run up their liquor tabs by ordering expensive, yet watered-down drinks.
One also has to wonder what endgame Laude had in mind when she left with Pemberton for the motel? Did she honestly think she could hide her sex from him? And if he found out, did she think he would just laugh it off? Unfortunately, Laude was playing with fire, and she had no idea just how dangerous a situation she had gotten herself in.
And then we have the employees of Ambyanz. They must have known that Laude was not a female. Were they also aware that Laude and her friend were duping Pemberton into believing they were? If the waiters, service people, and security guards at Ambyanz knew what was happening, didn't they owe it to Pemberton, their customer, to warn him? Several people knew what was happening that evening, but no one lifted a finger to stop it. This is indeed a sad indictment of our society.
At some level, it boils down to a difference in cultures. Most Filipinos of Pemberton's age or even younger would not have fallen for the ruse. And even if they had, a typical Filipino male would simply have laughed it off, or at worst, punched Laude in the face for fooling him. Given the prevalence and openness towards homosexuality in Philippine society, it is doubtful that any heterosexual Pinoy would have reacted the way Pemberton did.
In the end, although Pemberton committed the crime, there are others who share the blame, either for their failure to act, or their failure to appreciate the different values and norms that exist elsewhere. Published 9/8/2020
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