Statement of Prof. Judy M. Taguiwalo, Ph.D.
Director, University of the Philippines Center for Women’s Studies
As Director of the University of the Philippines Center for Women’s Studies (UCWS), I strongly condemn the brutal killing of a Filipina transgender woman, Jennifer Laude, allegedly by U.S. Marine Private First Class Joseph Scott Pemberton. I also extend my deepest condolences to Jennifer’s family for the untimely loss of their daughter and to the transgender community for the untimely loss of their sister.
The murder of Jennifer is a prime example of how predatory bilateral military agreements like the Visiting Forces Agreement put the lives of women, cis and trans, in peril. Clearly, her death is a hate crime on the basis of gender identity, a heinous case of gender-based violence, and an issue of national sovereignty. This incident is not an isolated case—it is the direct result of systemic “Othering” of women and transgender people by a transphobic, patriarchal, imperialist system. It is a process of obliterating the Other in its reassertion of dominance and control. Throughout history, imperialist state forces have used rape and other forms of violence against women as a weapon of war and domination.
The US has a long list of crimes against women in the Philippines in its need to maintain its position as the top military power in the world. The training of military personnel as predatory forces makes it natural for them to commit crimes against those made vulnerable because of their gender. Likewise, the view of the US military that women are mere tools for their rest and recreation permits them to dehumanize us.
This is the second publicized crime against women in the past decade: the first was the rape of Nicole by Lance Corporal Daniel Smith in 2005, a participant in the joint military exercises of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA). Despite the manifest harm of the VFA on women, President Benigno Aquino III has recently signed the Enhanced Defence Military Agreement (EDCA) which expands the scope and reaches of the VFA and allows the U.S. to military facilities in any part of the country.
We demand that justice be served. We want Joseph Scott Pemberton to be delivered to justice in the Philippine judiciary. Aside from the prosecution and punishment of the accused under Philippine laws, we demand an end to the one-sided agreements that are the VFA and the EDCA. We also want an end to the systemic violence perpetrated by U.S. imperialism on Filipino women and people.
The U.P. Center for Women’s Studies stands in solidarity with the Filipino women and people in the pursuit of justice for Jennifer Laude and for all the victims of crimes against women and against the people. We will not stop until our world becomes a world where women live in dignity and in security.
