“President Rodrigo Duterte has granted absolute pardon to a US Marine convicted for killing a Filipino transgender woman in 2014, officials said Monday. Duterte granted Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton absolute pardon in Malacañang, said Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, who represented the family of the US soldier’s victim, Jennifer Laude, during the trial of the case. ‘The President erased whatever punishment should be imposed on Pemberton. What was not erased was the conviction. He is still a killer.’ Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. initially announced the granting of absolute pardon on Twitter. ‘Cutting matters short over what constitutes time served, and since where he was detained was not in the prisoner’s control—and to do justice—the President has granted an absolute pardon to Pemberton. Here at the Palace,’ Locsin said. The development comes after Pemberton, who was sentenced in December 2015 to 6 to 10 years in prison for homicide over the slay of Laude, has been declared eligible for early release by an Olongapo court” – ABS-CBN Philippines.