JENNIFER Laude was murdered on October 11, 2014 but with the events that followed, she may very well end up being fatally attacked four times.
Jennifer was found dead from asphyxiation by drowning and with neck injuries at an Olongapo motel bathroom after checking in with a foreign national who was later identified as an American serviceman, Marine Pfc. Joseph Scott Pemberton. The suspect was part of American troops who are in the Philippines to participate in war exercises.
The police investigation initially held the angle that the suspect could have attacked Laude because the victim, who has not had a sex reassignment, was a transgender individual. Apparently, the police arrived at this thinking-of a man provoked to kill because of his anger and disappointment at being duped by a transgender -- early on, without the benefit of the results of a full investigation.
For authorities to assume this mindset is a massive disservice to Laude; it endorsed the view that sexual orientation and gender identity and expression are plausible reasons to take a human life. The dangers in entertaining such a view are that it could end up being used by the suspect as defense and even succeed in softening the judiciary's rulings and actions. If such transpires, Laude's death could get explained away as regrettable but understandable-and the authorities would have just succeeded in killing her a second time.
A few media outlets insisted in their coverage on referring to Laude as Jeffrey and as a male person, despite the fact that Jennifer had long embraced the orientation and identity of a transgender person. Laude had precisely protested against this insensitivity by living large and loud as a transgender woman.
The US-based National Gender for Transexual Equality defines transgender as a term that describes "people whose gender identity, expression or behavior is different from those typically associated with their assigned sex at birth." Denying Jennifer's choice in manifesting her gender identity can only be construed as killing off the person that she had opted to be.
The sentiments and actuations of that segment of public opinion that, wittingly or unwitting, endorsed the violence against Laude by saying she "had it coming", by entertaining the charge that she might have been caught by Pemberton attempting to steal from him, and chiding Laude for the temerity to live openly as a transgender would be like another pair of hands that choked out her life force and rights.
Laude's fiancé of two years German Marc Sueselbeck lashed out at the "animalistic bestiality of an... American soldier who has no respect at all from human life" and also called out Filipinos by asking "How should a foreigner respect people like Jennifer if your own society doesn't?" He went on to say, "So face your own guilt. And if the death of Jennifer is for one sense. Learn from it. Listen to the gender protests of those who now finally stand up. Open your eyes (to) what is happening around you and make everyone part of your community. Isn't one slogan: Stand Together Olongapo? Why don't you start with those who you do let stand outside from your society?"
Far be this a case of being overcome by colonial mentality and succumbing to the lectures of a Caucasian male, I think there is cause to reflect on the reality that Philippine society in general still discriminates against lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender individuals and those with intersex conditions.
This, despite the constitutional guarantee on respect for the dignity of every person and full respect to human rights, and the numerous instruments that recognize the rights of every person against discrimination of which the Philippines is a signatory.
There is obviously a lot more work to be done so that the formal guarantees about rights are translated into and inform the perspectives, persuasions and practices of individuals and communities. But there are foundations on which we can build. For instance, despite Sueselbeck's disappointment with Olongapo City, there are other local governments across the country that went ahead to protect their constituents from discrimination. According to a briefer prepared by the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW), the cities of Davao, Bacolod, Angeles, Cebu and Quezon have passed local legislation prohibiting and penalizing discrimination against persons on the bases of sexual preference, disability, ethnicity, and religious affiliation, among others.
The fourth round of violence that could potentially visit Laude concerns the actions that the Philippine Government would pursue in light of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) that it signed with the United States Government. Although Pemberton was not able to leave the country -- his ship the USS Peleliu is still at Subic-and while the Philippine Government had signified that it wanted to take Pemberton under custody, as of this writing the suspect is still under the custody of the United States.
While the VFA stipulates that the Philippines can, under "extraordinary circumstances" gain custody of a US soldier that committed an offense in Philippine territory, critics point to the case of US serviceman Lance Corporal Daniel Smith who was charged for allegedly raping "Nicole", and which was the first case of its nature under the VFA. Smith was initially held at the Makati jail but soon moved to the US Embassy. He was subsequently handed the life sentence by a Makati court. But the ruling was overturned by the Court of Appeals soon after "Nicole" retracted her testimony. Under EDCA, the US may preposition defense assets in "agreed locations" in the Philippines, one of which is Olongapo City.
The sad outcome of the story of Jennifer Laude can still be given redress if we stand together so that justice is served, and that hurts and harms do not visit people simply because they have a different orientation from the ones sanctioned by mainstream conservative institutions.
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