The trial of Marine Pfc. Joseph Pemberton in the murder of transgender Fillipina Jennifer Laude began yesterday.
Pemberton arrived in court with what was called a security escort but appears to the casual observer to be his entourage.
Laude's mother, Julita Cabillan, when approached by reporters was reported to have said that she would not drop the case, even is she was offered a million dollars.
Lawyers for the Laude family say that prosecutor Emilie Fe de los Santos had taken that statement as a sign that the Laude family was open to a plea bargain and that the prosecutor promoted that idea with defense attorneys.
Laude's relatives say they received a letter from Pemberton offering 21 million pesos (US $468,000) in exchange for their approval to lower the charge from murder to homicide. Murder carries a 40 year sentence, while homicide gets 20 years.
No amount of money could pay for the years I spent raising my child.
What they did to my child was gruesome. Just because we are poor doesn't mean we can't fight for justice.
--Cabillan
Laude, also identified as Jeffrey by the media, was found naked, strangled and drowned in the toilet bowl of a cheap motel room in Olongapo City's red light district according to the autopsy report.
The government's first witness, a bellboy, Elias Gallamos, testified that he saw Pemberton at the motel on the night Laude was killed.
The proceedings are closed to the media as de los Santos tries to control the release of information.
She said that, although Laude's family rejected the plea bargain offer, it could be revived and introduced 'anytime' during the trial.
Laude's family has submitted a letter to Department of Justice Secretary Leila De Lima requesting the assignment of a new prosecutor. The family cites the refusal of de los Santos to work with the family's private lawyers.
One of their attorneys, Harry Roque, also a UP law professor, has told the press that he has been barred by de los Santos from the trial and all pre-trial proceedings.
De los Santos said that Roque could only represent the Laude family in determining how much the defense should pay for the civil aspect of the case, and that the victim’s relatives could not serve as witnesses in the criminal case as they were not at the crime scene.
The Laudes said that delos Santos's act of barring Roque from last week's case conference is a violation of their constitutional rights to chose their own legal counsel to represent them in the case.
"We have the right under the Constitution to choose our own lawyer in whatever cases we face. This is why we don’t understand why the current public prosecutor does not allow our lawyer to defend us and make sure justice for the killing of Jennifer Laude would be served," said the family in the letter to de Lima
Today a lawyer for Pemberton is insisting that they did not offer a settlement in the case in order to procure a lesser charge.
Barbie Caguioa Gelviro, a friend of Laude's and another transgender woman, today gave eyewitness testimony to the events of the night Laude was slain.
Gelviro identified and pointed to Pemberton as the one with Laude she left at Celzone Lodge.
Gelviro told the court that several transgender friends, including Laude, were at the Ambyanz Night Life club sipping non-alcoholic drinks on the night of the slaying.
The trial has started, but we are deeply concerned. We will only feel secure once we see our lawyer working well with the public prosecutors in defending our real interests to attain justice.
--The Laude Family, in their letter to de Lima
de los Santos says both of the first witnesses are in
witness protection.
Protestors outside the trial are calling for the dissolution of the US Visiting Forces Agreement with The Philippines.
The trial will resume April 13.