MANILA, Philippines — Marc Sueselbeck, the German fiancé of slain Filipino transgender, Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude, left the Philippines Saturday after apologizing to Filipinos for his behavior, saying he was not aware of the “political part” of what he had done.
”If any Philippine person felt disrespected with what I did, I first want to apologize to all Philippine people. I always respected you. I want to say sorry to you all,” Sueselbeck said before boarding a China Airlines plane that left at 4:45 p.m. for Taiwan, where he will take a connecting flight to Germany.
“”Thank you that you allow me to leave. It was my intention already last week. But you know I think you did show up the point that you wanted to mention that no one gets away with it. I think I didn’t get away with it,” he told reporters before boarding his flight.
Instead of being deported by the Bureau of Immigration after his much publicized act at Camp Aguinaldo, Sueselbeck agreed to voluntarily leave the country.
He and Laude’s sister, Marilou, jumped over the perimeter fence of the Philippine Army’s headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo where Private First Class Joseph Scott Pemberton, the suspect in Laude’s killing, was being detained. This act enraged the military.
Sueselbeck filed for voluntary deportation with the BI,after he was prevented from leaving the country last Sunday, Oct. 26. The German national said he had received word from his employer in Germany that he had to report for work on Monday,Nov. 3 or risk losing his job.
He had been in the country for two weeks. He arrived on Oct. 20 to attend Laude’s wake.
The military said Sueselbeck violated Presidential Decree No. 1227, or the law Punishing Unlawful Entry into Any Military Base in the Philippines.
The German is now barred from entering the Philippines. His Filipino lawyer, Harry Roque, vowed to file a petition on the case as Sueselbeck had said he would want to return to the country to visit Laude’s grave next year.
“I wasn’t aware of the political issue that is behind us. I thought it was really about the brutal, unbelievable crime that has happened. It was about the person we all love. I wasn’t aware of the political part of it, and I’m apologizing. As someone who comes from outside, I probably should not have taken part in that,” he added. (Eagle News Service)
