This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. V, No. 40, November
13-19, 2005
Commentary
Injustice Amid Subservience
The chances that justice will
come for the 22-year-old Filipina who has accused six US soldiers of raping her
last November 1 inside the former US base in Subic, Olongapo City is no better
than previous cases of rape and even homicide that were lodged against members
of the US military during the heyday of the US bases in the country.
By
Carol Pagaduan-Araullo The chances that justice
will come for the 22-year-old Filipina who has accused six US soldiers of raping
her last November 1 inside the former US base in Subic, Olongapo City is no
better than previous cases of rape and even homicide that were lodged against
members of the US military during the heyday of the US bases in the country.
During that time, poor
Filipinos scavenging for scrap material inside the fenced-off base area were
shot at like wild pigs, apparently not so much for security reasons but as
target practice for bored soldiers manning security outposts. No cases of rape
or manslaughter have ever been successfully pursued till the perpetrators get
their just desserts because of the sheer lopsided status of the Filipino victims
versus their American tormentors. Thus the Philippines has the
dubious distinction of having a long history of US soldiers guilty of grievous,
if not heinous, crimes getting away scot-free, completely beyond the reach of
Philippine judicial processes. Were the laws of the land
paramount, the six suspects would be in jail by now or at least preliminary
investigation could be accelerated to ensure that they do not go into hiding or
skip town. The Filipino public is
especially quick to be roused to sympathize with a rape victim, despite the
still pervasive macho culture, because of the feudal and Roman Catholic value
given to a woman's chastity, especially that of a young woman. Sometimes, when the victim
is clearly disadvantaged by socio-economic status, there can even be a backlash
against the perpetrators if they happen to be scions of rich families who are
perceived to be abusing their privileged positions in society to get away with
their crimes and misdemeanors. But this is not an ordinary
criminal case involving another Filipino whereby Philippine jurisdiction over
the case would be undisputed. What has immediately been invoked both by US and
Philippine authorities is the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) that, despite
merely being considered an "executive agreement" by the US government, appears
to supersede the national laws of this land, including the Revised Penal Code
that covers heinous crimes such as gang rape. As opponents of the VFA had
argued all the way to the Supreme Court, the VFA institutionalized a set-up that
no self-respecting independent nation would have accepted. Concretely, under the VFA ,
US soldiers who are suspects in the commission, even of heinous crimes, are not
automatically under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Philippine government.
Art. V, paragraphs 3 (a) and
3 (b) state that U.S. military
authorities have exclusive jurisdiction over offenses punishable under
Philippine law as long as these are also punishable under the "criminal and
disciplinary jurisdiction" conferred upon U.S. authorities by military law,
(underscoring ours) and of offenses arising out of performance of official duty.
We aver that indeed, this is
the provision that is used to assert US jurisdiction in this case since by no
stretch of the imagination can rape be considered an offense "arising out of
performance of official duty". Of course, the US government
could accede to an assertion by the Philippine government of jurisdiction over
the rape case because if its "particular importance to the Philippines" but as
of press time, we have not heard of any such position taken by the Arroyo
administration. Malacañang has so far been meekly accepting US custody and
jurisdiction. The latest admission by the
Presidential Commission on the RP-US VFA is that the Philippine government is
helpless should the US government choose to bring the six accused out of the
Philippines since the VFA has "no qualification" as to where exactly an accused
can be held. Nonetheless, the VFA is not
the ultimate culprit. Even without invoking the VFA, US and Philippine
authorities have collaborated to whisk away beyond the reach of Philippine law
no less than a suspected terrorist bomber who left a trail of circumstantial
evidence that he was or had been a CIA agent. This was in 2002, in
Evergreen Hotel in Davao City, when a certain
Michael Meiring, a South African-born American citizen and self-proclaimed
treasure hunter, caused injury to himself and damage to hotel property when he
accidentally detonated a bomb he had been assembling. Despite severe
injury to his two legs and arrest warrants for illegal possession of firearm and
ammunition issued by local authorities, Meiring was able to elude arrest. From the Davao
hospital, Meiring vanished and eventually managed to leave the Philippines
apparently with the help of officials from the
United States
embassy which, of course, issued a denial of any involvement in Meiring's
departure. It stands to reason that other government officials at the national
level also facilitated the escape of the suspected terrorist. Now the Arroyo government
has the gall to argue that the absence of an Anti-Terrorism Bill (ATB) is the
reason terrorists, local and foreign, get away with impunity. Meanwhile people
are being killed, maimed and harassed in the name of "upholding the rule of law"
and counterterrorism. Indeed Malacañang and its
supporters have argued ad nauseum that the "calibrated preemptive
response" or CPR, the ATB, and all the armamentarium of a so-called "strong
republic" are needed to safeguard ordinary citizens' rights and lives from
destabilizers and terrorists. Our tart response: Tell that
to the marines. This government must first prove itself capable of protecting
its own citizens against the depredations of foreign criminal elements not to
mention asserting the country's sovereignty and dignity against the almighty
United States of America.
(This article was
published by BusinessWorld in its November 11-12, 2005 issue.) © 2005 Bulatlat
■
Alipato Publications Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.
BusinessWorld
Posted by Bulatlat
Furthermore, contrary to the pronouncements of the Department of Justice that
the Philippines will get custody of the six accused US soldiers when arrest
warrants have been issued, the VFA stipulates otherwise. Thus it is the US
government's position that "until proven guilty" the accused will remain in US
custody and will only "be made available" to local judicial proceedings.