Was Pemberton pardon a clever geopolitical move?

ON Monday, September 7, President Rodrigo Duterte granted a full pardon to convicted United States Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton, who was serving a six- to 10-year sentence for the murder of transgender woman Jennifer Laude in Olongapo in 2014. The President’s pardon of Pemberton followed a controversial decision by the Olongapo Regional Trial Court to grant Pemberton an early release on the basis of good conduct while imprisoned and after a payment by Pemberton’s family and friends of P4.3 million in damages was accepted by the family of Laude.

Not surprisingly, the President’s decision surprised and angered many crime victims’ and transgender people’s rights advocates, who condemned it as a miscarriage of justice. Supporters of the President’s decision, on the other hand, have pointed out a number of extenuating circumstances in Pemberton’s criminal case, and have also stressed — correctly — that the President’s absolute power of pardon provided by the Constitution renders any debate or criticism of it irrelevant.