The government prosecutor handling the preliminary investigation on the killing of slain transgender woman Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude will remain in the case.
In a text message Wednesday, Prosecutor General Claro Arellano said there is “no ground for [the] inhibition” of state prosecutor Emily de los Santos, despite a request from the Laude camp.
“No ground for inhibition. Bias [is a] mere allegation,” said Arellano.
Lawyer Harry Roque Jr, legal counsel for the Laude family, was earlier quoted in reports as saying that they would seek the inhibition of De los Santos before the Department of Justice for allegedly taking orders from the United States government.
Roque claimed De los Santos has been hostile to the Laude family since the start of the preliminary investigation in Olongapo City.
Detained suspect, US Marine Private First Class Joseph Scott Pemberton, who is facing a murder complaint for the killing of 26-year-old transgender woman, was earlier transferred from the US Navy ship USS Peleliu docked in Subic to Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.
The US Embassy in Manila, however, had said Pemberton continued to be under US custody despite him being detained in a Philippine facility. —Mark Merueñas/KBK, GMA News
