Manila, Philippines - A guttural, heart-wrenching cry reverberated inside the crowded funeral parlour
where the body of Filipino transgender Jeffrey "Jennifer" Laude lay in a white coffin as family and friends
mouthed angry anti-American slogans on the eve of his interment.
Distraught friends and family demanded justice for Laude, whose body was found in a toilet at a motel in
Olongapo city north of Manila two-weeks ago. He was last seen with a man later identified through a closed
circuit television camera as 19-year-old US Marine private first class Joseph Scott Pemberton, who was
subsequently charged with murder.
The case is now threatening to undermine relations between the US and the Philippines, and again brings
into public discourse the controversial Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), a treaty ratified by Manila in 1999,
that allowed for resumption of large-scale joint military manoeuvres with American troops.



Analysts say it also endangers an Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement signed in April that was meant to
bolster the military alliance even more by setting guidelines for more US troops to be stationed in the
former American colony, which Washington expects to play a vital role in the Asia-Pacific region.
"The issue we have been trying to address with the Jennifer Laude case is one of accountability," said
Harry Roque, an international human rights lawyer representing the Laude family. "Will a US Marine
normally exempt from jurisdiction of the Philippines be sent to Muntinlupa [a prison in the Philippines] in
case he is proven guilty of murder?"
Unclear circumstances
Roque said the case was another reason for the Philippines to scrap the VFA, which gives legal jurisdictionPresidents Barack Obama and Benigno Aquino III toast at a state
dinner in Manila in April [EPA]
to American troops mired in crimes perpetrated while on official tour here.
Pemberton was among the troops aboard the amphibious assault ship Peleliu when it joined annual naval
exercises recently. Police say he met Laude in a bar while on shore leave as the vessel docked in Subic, a
former US naval base in Olongapo.
What exactly happened next is subject to court arguments, although what is clear is that Laude was found
dead, his head submerged in a toilet bowl.
Pemberton was initially held aboard the Peleliu, but was subsequently transferred to a seven-metre-long
container van inside the Philippines' main military base in Manila, where officials said he is under guard by
American troops and on suicide watch.
Roque and many nationalist activist groups, such as Bayan (New Nationalist Alliance), have demanded that
Pemberton be transferred into Filipino custody. Anger has also spilled onto the streets, with almost regular
protests outside the US embassy since the killing.
"The Laude family doubts if they can ever hold Pemberton criminally liable," Roque told Al Jazeera. "As of
now, he is still in the custody of the US, hence, beyond the reach of Philippine jurisdiction."
"This has very practical ramifications. Without custody,
the Philippine National Police has not been able to
subject him to custodial interrogation in connection with
the murder," he said, stressing that local investigators
still did not have basic forensic evidence.
Ensuring justice
Calls to the Philippine government and US Embassy
seeking comment were not returned.
"In accordance with the US-Philippine Visiting Forces
Agreement (VFA), the United States has a right to
retain custody of a suspect from the commission of the
alleged offense until completion of all judicial proceedings," a US Embassy statement said.
The Philippines' foreign affairs department on Tuesday defended the VFA calling it an "integral part" of
bilateral ties with Washington.
President Benigno Aquino III has sought to calm the public over the issue, promising that Pemberton would
not be treated with "kid gloves", and the government would do all it could to ensure justice through the
courts.

However, he has steadfastly rejected calls to end the defence treaty with the US, saying an alleged crime

committed by one soldier out of hundreds was not a strong enough reason to do so.

Outspoken Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago said the treaty was heavily biased towards the Americans,

and has called for an immediate review.

The fact alone that the government was not allowed access to a suspect in a "crime committed with

extreme cruelty" already showed the discrimination bias of the pact, Defensor-Santiago said.

"For that reason, we are calling for the review of the VFA because these provisions are onerous," she told

reporters. "I will repeat a resolution I filed five years ago that was ignored. It was passed in the Senate, but

there was no renegotiation, much less any termination. I understand why people are very angry with the

VFA and want it abrogated."Source: Al Jazeera

Pemberton's is not the first case that tested the Visiting Forces Agreement. In 2005, US serviceman Lance

Corporal Daniel Smith was charged with raping a Filipino woman inside a van as his colleagues cheered

him on.

Smith was eventually convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. But instead of being jailed in a local

prison, he was transferred to the US embassy under cover of darkness as he appealed the case. An

appeals court later overturned the conviction, in what many here still say was an erroneous decision.

The Smith case chilled diplomatic and military ties between the allies, with many Filipinos saying the

government did not do enough to protect its citizen. It also exposed deep resentment rooted on the

Americans' past abuses.

Troubled past

The Philippines was ceded to the United States in 1898 by Spain after it lost a war with the US, and a brief,

bloody conflict soon commenced between American colonisers and Filipinos. While full independence was

granted to the Philippines 1946, the US continued to control large military installations for decades.

The Philippines had hosted two of the United States' biggest overseas bases in the past - the Subic Naval

Base and nearby Clark Air Base. Both played key roles in Washington's geopolitical interests in Asia,

including during the Vietnam War and at the height of the Cold War.

A nationalist Senate, however, voted to end lease contracts in 1991, and the eruption of Mount Pinatubo

volcano hastened the US withdrawal. In 1992, the last American warship pulled out of Subic Bay, ending

nearly a century of base presence, but also leaving behind tens-of-thousands of children born to American

soldiers and Filipina mothers.

"I know that an act of one person is not the act of the entire nation, but still the government should ensure

no abuses happen when American soldiers are here," said Bhey Calaguas, a 42-year-old woman

abandoned at birth by her American soldier father.

"When will we ever learn our lesson? This case has opened up past wounds for many of us," said

Calaguas, who also lives in Olongapo.

But with the Philippine military among the weakest in the region, Aquino is unlikely to scrap the treaty and

hurt its military alliance with Washington at a time when it needs assistance to counter China's threat over

an increasingly tense territorial row in the South China Sea.

"How convenient that, when a Filipino is killed, our national leaders tell us to look at the bigger picture. Well,

the big picture here is national sovereignty, and it is tragic that the president fails to grasp this," said Renato

Reyes, leader of the New Nationalist Alliance organisation.