MANILA, Philippines—Stressing that the “rule of law” should always be observed, US Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg on Thursday said he was disappointed about the breach of security in the Philippine military headquarters by the German boyfriend and the elder sister of the slain transgender Filipino Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude on Wednesday.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines is filing a complaint against German Marc Sueselbeck for assaulting a Filipino soldier after climbing over the fence and jumping into the compound of the Joint US Military Assistance Group (Jusmag) at Camp Aguinaldo.
Sueselbeck, boyfriend of Jennifer Laude, who was killed in a motel in Olongapo City on the night of Oct. 11 allegedly by a US Marine, faces deportation.
Sueselbeck, however, is ready to face the consequences of his actions, they said.
Speaking to reporters in Olongapo City on Thursday, Sueselbeck, who works as an accountant in Germany, admitted his error.
“It was not right. It was disrespectful toward the Philippine authorities,” he said.
He explained that he followed Marilou into the Jusmag compound after hearing the soldiers saying something not nice about her.
“It was a spur of the moment decision and we already apologized to the military guards,” Marilou Laude said.
“I did not intend to offend the military. I did it because I just wanted to negotiate with them about showing the suspect to us,” Sueselbeck said. “My intention was not to mess with them. It was a decision at that very moment and I did not think of it carefully.”
Told that the military was going to file a complaint against him in the German Embassy, Sueselbeck said he found that “weird” because he and some camp officials had talked and settled the matter before he and the Laudes left the camp.
“We already apologized. What more can I do?” he said.
He said he would leave the matter to the lawyers of the Laude family. He said he was flying back to Germany on Sunday but he would return to the Philippines for Pemberton’s trial.
Goldberg, speaking on an early morning television program on Thursday, made it clear that Pfc. Joseph Scott Pemberton of the US Marine Corps, who is facing a murder complaint in the Olongapo City Prosecutor’s Office for the killing of Laude, is detained at Jusmag.
“You have our word on it,” Goldberg said, adding that AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Pio Catapang and Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) Commission Executive Director Eduardo Oban were present when Pemberton was transferred there on Wednesday from the USS Peleliu in Subic Bay Freeport.
Source: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/113393/us-envoy-decries-laude-kin-theatrics/#ixzz3H1dGEgsl
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