Joseph Scott Pemberton arrives at Camp Aguinaldo. Inset transgender Jennifer Laude. Photo: TED ALJIBE/REUTERS; inset: Facebook

ilipino males by nature appear more effeminate than males of most other cultures. Behind the facade of the Latin "macho" you'll usually find a soft-spoken, mild-mannered, mama's boy who walks the line between the masculine and the feminine.

Stroll anywhere in Metro Manila and you'll likely run into a lot of openly gay homosexuals. However, unlike their Western counterparts, gay Filipino men appear to prefer young straight boys who they prey on for sexual favors. By contrast, In Europe or North America, gay men seek out other gay men for friendship, companionship, and sex. The majority of Filipino gays on the other hand may have friends and companions who are also gay, but they still seek out young straight men and boys to fulfill their sexual cravings.

With modern-day advancements in cosmetic surgery and hormone treatments, many of these outwardly effeminate gays have discovered a new underhanded way of deceiving unsuspecting heterosexual males into sex. A lot of Filipino gays, like Jennifer Laude (the transgender who was killed by U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton) have undergone medical procedures in order to make themselves look more like women than men. And that by itself would be fine if they confined their sexual exploits to other consenting gay partners who are aware of their true nature. Instead they use their newly acquired feminine looks to deceive and have sex with unsuspecting straight men or boys.

Unfortunately, what these cross-dressing, transgender individuals don't realize, especially when they prey on unsuspecting males from other cultures, is that sometimes violent reactions do occur. Unlike Filipino males who might just laugh it off or react mildly to such deception, men from other cultures might find it totally unacceptable and react violently.

If we take a step back for a second and view this tragic event from a wider perspective, we realize that the management of the Ambyanz disco bar in Olongapo where Pemberton met Laude should have warned the young Marine that Laude was actually a man dressed-up as a woman. After all Pemberton was their customer and it was their fiduciary responsibility to do so. Unfortunately, most Filipinos have no idea what fiduciary responsibility is. But if the management of the disco bar had done what they were supposed to do, Laude would likely still be alive today, and Pemberton would not be sitting in a Philippine jail.

It is the responsibility of resorts, bars, discos, nightclubs, and all manner of honkytonks to police themselves and warn unsuspecting customers when they are being preyed upon or deceived. If the Philippine hospitality industry fails to do this on their own, then a law should be passed forcing them to warn him. A law should also be passed requiring cross-dressers and transgender individuals in bars, nightclubs, and similar places to reveal the truth about themselves to all new acquaintances they make in those places.

The cities of Angeles and Olongapo were once notorious places of ill-repute and sleaziness when U.S. military bases operated there. So if one can find a silver lining in all this, it would be the fact that American military leaders now prohibit visiting American servicemen from venturing outside their base while in the Philippines. So all the dregs of Philippine society, the pimps,  their hookers, the drug pushers, the cheap women, and the con-artists who would used to flock to places where American servicemen are stationed are now forced to look elsewhere, or better yet, forced to find an honest profession instead." Published 4/7/2016