A US Marine accused of killing a transgender woman in the Philippines says there is no basis to charge him with murder, his lawyer told state prosecutors.

Private First Class Joseph Scott Pemberton, who is detained at the Philippines' military headquarters in Manila, did not attend the preliminary hearing in Olongapo, but his lawyer filed a motion to "declare the absence of probable cause for murder or any other crime".

Demonstrators display a banner while holding torches, seeking justice for murdered Filipino transgender Jeffrey Laude, who also goes by the name Jennifer, during a protest along a main street of Manila on the weekend. Credit:Reuters

If prosecutors elevate the case to court, Pemberton asked that the murder charge be reduced to homicide, his lawyer Rowena Flores, said. Murder carries a maximum penalty of life in prison while the maximum penalty for homicide is 20 years.

Jennifer Laude, a 26-year-old transgender woman, was found lifeless on October 12 in a cheap hotel in the northern city of Olongapo half naked in a bathroom with strangle marks on her neck, according to police.