Laude boyfriend may be deported

MANILA, Philippines - The military will move to have Marc Suselbeck deported as an “undesirable alien,” Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) public affairs chief Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc said yesterday.

Cabunoc said the AFP Judge Advocate General has drafted a letter to the German embassy and the Bureau of Immigration detailing the misbehavior of Suselbeck.

Suselbeck, the fiancé of murdered Filipino transgender Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude, along with the victim’s family scaled the perimeter fence of Camp Aguinaldo on Wednesday in the attempt to confront US Marine Private First Class Joseph Scott Pemberton, the principal suspect in the slaying.

Pemberton is detained at the Mutual Defense Board-Security Engagement Board (MDB-SEB) facility inside the main military headquarters at Camp Aguinaldo.

“We want him deported as an undesirable alien because of his misbehavior in the Philippines,” Cabunoc said.

“Armed Forces chief of staff General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. has decided to write the German embassy regarding the case of Marc Suselbeck who encroached …the camp and climbed on the security fence with the sister of Jeffrey Laude,” he said.

Cabunoc said the AFP chief took note of Suselbeck’s actions as a clear violation of Presidential Decree 1277, the law that punishes unlawful entry to any military base.

“It is understood that any foreign national who visits the Philippines shall follow Philippine laws,” Cabunoc said.

Cabunoc said they would also validate the identity and background information of Suselbeck through the German embassy.

Laude’s sister Marilou climbed over the fence to enter the facility after members of the military police refused to let her in. Suselbeck followed and even pushed one of the soldiers who tried to prevent him from entering the facility.

“This is one of the issues that we have raised and for assaulting our military police who was on duty that time in the holding facility,” Cabunoc said.

“The misbehavior of a foreign national in a foreign country is a basis and ground for deportation,” Cabunoc added.

Immigration Commissioner Siegfred Mison said Suselbeck could be deported if it can be proven he misbehaved.

“We have to wait for the incident report. Once we know what he did in Camp Aguinaldo and if, whatever it was that he did, can be considered an undesirable act, he would be properly charged for deportation,” Mison said.

Immigration spokesperson Elaine Tan said they could not say at the moment if Suselbeck committed an “undesirable act.”

“We still have to evaluate based on the totality of circumstances. At this point it is still not conclusive,” Tan said.

‘Media circus’

US Ambassador Philip Goldberg, however, expressed dismay at the encroaching incident which he said became a “media circus.” –Roel Pareño, Pia Lee-Brago, Evelyn Macairan, Paolo Romero