Once again an American soldier is in the eye of a stormy controversy for allegedly killing a Filipino in Olongapo City. We Filipinos are rightfully outraged. The killer must pay for the crime.
The main speculation is that Jennifer Laude, a transgender, was murdered when her killer found out her real gender and, apparently feeling duped, killed her in rage. The suspect is a US marine, Pfc. Joseph Scott Pemberton, and currently in detention in Camp Aguinaldo here but technically in custody of the US government.
Olongapo, like the seamier districts of Manila and Makati, are nightly the scenes of similar encounters between people seeking fleeting pleasure and those who provide it.
Indeed a former US ambassador, the party-loving Harry Thomas, indelicately opined that tourists come to the Philippines mainly for sex. First of all, that can’t be true. And second what kind of ambassador can be as crude and undiplomatic as that?
Bars in places like Olongapo cater to foreigners on holiday or, in the case of American soldiers, on what they call “liberty.” But the fact that they’re on “liberty” doesn’t give them freedom to do what they please. Like murdering people for one reason or another.
The fact that a US military serviceman is allegedly involved makes the case a sensational one. The presence of US soldiers in the country has historically been an explosive issue, not only among militants, but among many Filipinos.
That this worst-case scenario — the killing of a Filipino by a US serviceman — happens only once in a long time, doesn’t make the crime any easier to swallow. A human being, a fellow Filipino, got murdered and the one responsible must pay for it.
As a consequence of the murder, the Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States must be reviewed for its deficiencies as far as the purported benefits it renders to the Philippines. Or, if majority of us Filipinos want it junked altogether, then so be it.
If senior Filipino public officials can make a good case for abrogating the agreement and public sentiment supports it, then our government must make the necessary actions to get the agreement nullified.
The problem with bilateral or multilateral pacts the Philippines enters into is that too many concessions are extended to the foreign partners. Manila Observer has an internationalist outlook but also firmly believes that all relationships with foreign nations or entities must be fair to all parties.
There are countries around the world that are respected by the United States because they’re tough. Afghanistan’s (former) president cursed and badmouthed the United States and yet that country got and still gets a lot of US aid. Other countries that are favored by the United States include Pakistan, India, Egypt and Israel not only for strategic reasons but also because their leaders are tough negotiators.
We Filipinos must learn to be tough when negotiating with foreign entities. Our usual friendliness and accommodating nature must be put aside in these instances. Rather, we should be firm and always cognizant of our nation’s rights and our fellow citizens’ welfare. We must not allow ourselves to be bullied by the more powerful among our partner nations. We must stop entering into pacts that are against our interests.
The Senate should take the initiative of reviewing the VFA and be serious this time about making changes to it that would benefit us more, or abrogate the agreement altogether if the United States would not agree to make the pact equally beneficial to us and them.
Meanwhile, our government must go after Jennifer Laude’s killer with purpose and speed, and put him in jail here for life and without a chance for parole. Let’s not be duped again by the Americans who spirited away Daniel Smith, who was convicted of rape, in the dead of night (which the then Arroyo government allowed to happen without a fight).
We cannot allow ourselves to be taken advantage of by foreign governments. When their citizens violate our laws, they should pay for their crimes, no ifs or buts, no exceptions.
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