COVID-19 test also delaying Pemberton's release, deportation —lawyer

The result of a COVID-19 test is one of the things that are delaying the deportation of Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton, the American soldier convicted of homicide for the killing of Filipino transgender woman Jennifer Laude in 2014.

"Kung meron pa pong mga requirements yung Bureau of Immigration, hindi ko po alam. Pero isa pa pong nagdi-delay ay yun pong resulta ng COVID test sa kaniya," Pemberton's lawyer, Rowena Flores, told Unang Balita in an interview on Friday.

Flores said the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) has given them a time frame of three to seven days.

"Sa pagkakaalam ko po ang RITM ang magti-test po, very busy po sila ngayon so three to seven days pa raw po," she said.

Flores had earlier said that she expects Pemberton to be released by Friday, days after he was granted absolute pardon by President Rodrigo Duterte.

However, as of Friday, Flores said Pemberton has yet to secure a clearance from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), which a requirement for his deportation.

"Hindi pa po siya makakaalis ngayong araw na ito, kasi kailangan pa niya ng NBI clearance. Kukunan po siya ng fingerprint atsaka ng picture ng NBI today," she said.

Flores said the NBI clearance is needed to ensure that Pemberton is not facing any charges in the country before he is deported.

Flores also said a US military plane will take Pemberton, once released, to either Hawaii or Guam.

Pemberton's lawyer also said she is not privy to information that the pardon granted to her client was related to the US' offer of a potential vaccine against COVID-19. —KBK, GMA News