Youth groups launched protests and activities yesterday, October 11, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the murder of transwoman Jennifer Laude by a US Marine. They held the activities at the University of the Philippines (UP)-Diliman, in front of the Technological University of the Philippines (TUP), and at UP Mindanao.

US Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton killed Laude in Olongapo City on October 11, 2014. He was in the Philippines as part of a war game between the Philippines and the US under the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).

Despite being convicted of homicide, Pemberton was not imprisoned in the Philippines or even placed under the custody of the Philippine government. The VFA stipulates that the US has primary authority over the detention of its personnel, even if they are convicted by a Philippine court. Furthermore, in 2020, the Duterte regime granted Pemberton an absolute pardon allowing him to freely return to and reside in the US.

The commemoration included the screening in UP Diliman of PJ Raval’s documentary “Call Her Ganda” narrating Laude’s brutal murder at the hands of Pemberton. After the screening, the audience held a protest march from Plaridel Hall to Oblation Plaza at UP Diliman. UP Cinema and the League of Filipino Students led the lighting of candles and vigil.

At TUP-Manila, national-democratic groups including the Youth for Justice and Peace (Y4JP) held a protest in front of the campus. “Let us continue to commemorate and amplify the voices of the abused and harassed trans brothers and sisters of the country and all victims of US imperialism,” the Kabataan Partylist-Metro Manila, one of the groups that participated in the protest, said.

At UP Mindanao, organizations launched a program with the student council on campus. They also lit candles as a call for justice.

According to the League of Filipino Students (LFS), it has been a decade since Laude’s murder, but justice remains elusive for her and her family. “As a transwoman, it is infuriating that the heinous hate crime against Jennifer Laude can be erased just because the perpetrator was a US soldier,” LFS official Elle Buntag said.

This is a travesty of Philippine sovereignty and means that US forces, through the VFA, are free to commit crimes against Filipinos with impunity. “This is alarming, especially since there are more ‘Pembertons’ in the country now under Marcos Jr,” Buntag added. She refered to the increased presence of US military bases in the Philippines under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement and the frequent war games held in the country.

Amid all this, it is crucial to continue the fight for justice. “Justice for Jennifer is not just about holding Pemberton accountable, but also about scrapping the VFA and other agreements that allow more monsters like him to enter our country,” Buntag concluded.

The national-democratic LGBT+ group Bahaghari also released a statement commemorating Laude’s murder. The group’s chairperson Reyna Valmores said “as long as the Philippines remains a neocolony of the US… so long as leaders like Marcos Jr refuse to stand up for a truly sovereign Philippines, all of us are Jennifer Laude!”