VFACOM: Except for suspect’s vessel, US Navy ships allowed to leave PHL

Published October 14, 2014 4:36pm

Except for the USS Peleliu, all US military ships can now leave the Philippines, an official of the Presidential Commission on the Visiting Forces Agreement said on Tuesday.

Six American vessels were earlier barred by the US Pacific Command from leaving the country following the killing of 26-year-old transgender woman Jeffrey Laude in Olongapo City on Saturday night.

In an interview at the Department of Foreign Affairs, VFACOM executive director Eduardo Oban said the US military on Tuesday morning informed the Philippine government of the move to allow the ships apart from the USS Peleliu to leave.

“The bottom line is that all those involved in the case will stay and Peleliu is not going to leave until the investigation is done,” Oban said.

Oban said suspect Private First Class Joseph Pemberton and some witnesses are being held on board the Peleliu, of which they are crewmembers.

The ships were in the Philippines either for re-fuelling stop or have carried US military personnel who participated in the annual war games with their Filipino counterparts in various parts of the country.

“All other ships may now leave the Philippines to proceed with their respective operations or missions,” Oban said.

It was not clear if the other crew members of the Peleliu will be allowed to leave the country.

“We will clarify that. They may be transferred to other ships. But what is clear is that the personnel involved can not leave,” Oban said.

The suspected American marine is the second US soldier to be involved in a criminal act in the country since 2005.

Nine years ago, Lance Corporal Daniel Smith was charged and later on convicted for the rape of a Filipino woman. The case, which sparked a diplomatic row between Manila and Washington, was dismissed after the victim took back her testimony.

Laude was found dead inside the Celzone Lodge in Olongapo City. Initial reports said he was last seen with a foreigner.

American forces regularly train with Filipino soldiers under the VFA, a military accord signed between the two allies in 1998, seven years after the shut down of US bases in the country. —NB, GMA News

Tags: transgenderkilling, jeffreylaude, josephscottpemberton