Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago announces during a press conference on Wednesday (July 2, 2014) that she has been diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. “God never asks us for an opinion. God just goes ahead and does whatever is in His hands. I just say okay,” Santiago says. (MNS photo)
MANILA (Mabuhay) – Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago is planning to investigate the murder of a Filipino transgender woman by an alleged US Marine while renewing her call to abolish the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).
Santiago, who chairs the Senate foreign relations committee, said the case of Jennifer Laude presents an opportunity to reevaluate the agreement.
“Paimbestigahan ko nga ‘yan,” she told reporters on Wednesday.
“I can open it and I can start the hearing as long as I comply with the three-day notice rule. I have to give them notice in three days’ time.”
While the committee does not have the power to invite or subpoena foreign officials, Santiago said she may include witnesses and law enforcers to the probe.
She added, however, that she would consult with government agencies first to make sure the Senate’s probe would not hamper their own investigation.
Santiago, who has always been against the VFA, believes Laude’s murder and a 2006 rape case involving an American soldier – whom the appellate court later acquitted – are enough reasons to scrap the agreement.
“These are no longer temporary but periodic irritants in RP-US relations,” she said.
The senator said that in the meantime, the government must assert its jurisdiction over the case and fight for custody of the suspect, Private First Class Joseph Scott Pemberton.
She said Pemberton must be turned over to Filipino authorities and be detained in a Philippine jail.
“I will insist that under the terms of the VFA itself, which was properly negotiated between the two parties involved, automatically we acquire jurisdiction,” said Santiago. (MNS)