This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com).
Vol. VI, No. 43, Dec. 4, 2006
Militants on Subic rape
verdict:
‘It Falls Short’
BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
Posted 6:25 p.m., Dec. 4, 2006
The victory is only partial, as the decision
falls short of what the verdict should have been.
This was how the leaders of the militant groups that rallied outside the Makati
Regional Trial Court today described Judge Benjamin Pozon’s decision on the
Subic rape case.
Pozon found the principal accused Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith guilty of raping
“Nicole,” the court-assigned name of the Subic rape victim, on Nov. 1 last year.
His co-accused S/Sgt. Chad Carpentier, Lance Cpl. Keith Silkwood, and Lance Cpl.
Dominic Duplantis were acquitted.
“We could have been happy that at least one was convicted,” said Bagong
Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan or New Patriotic Alliance) secretary-general Renato
Reyes, Jr. “But this only showed our limited ability to prosecute offending U.S.
soldiers for as long as we have the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).”
“For as long as we have difficulty getting custody of offending U.S. soldiers,
it becomes harder to file and pursue charges against them, it becomes harder to
haul them to prison,” Reyes added.
The VFA, which was ratified in 1999 by the Senate and grants extraterritorial
and extrajudicial privileges to U.S. troops visiting the country for joint
military “exercises” with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), provides
that Philippine authorities shall waive their primary right to exercise
jurisdiction upon request by U.S. authorities, except in cases the government
considers to be of particular importance to the Philippines.
“We feel a limited satisfaction (with the decision), as there was one who was
found guilty,” said Gert Ranjo-Libang, spokesperson of the women’s group
GABRIELA. “But it’s limited, because the three others were not found guilty as
charged. We think all four of them should have been convicted.”
“We are also demanding the abrogation of the VFA,” she added. “Because under
this agreement, even if Smith was found guilty, there is a question on where he
is to be jailed. Under the VFA, the Philippine and U.S. governments still have
to confer on where the guilty party is to be jailed.”
Reyes expressed a similar view. “That is what is sad about the whole thing:
whatever will be agreed about with the U.S. will depend on the political will of
the Arroyo administration, and that is not the justice that we want,” the Bayan
leader said.
Meanwhile, former Vice President Teofisto Guingona, Jr., a noted nationalist,
hailed the decision as a “partial victory,” but stressed that the Philippines
should have custody of Smith as the crime of rape, he said, “is of particular
importance” to the Philippines.
“There are imbalances that should be corrected,” Guingona said when asked how he
expected the decision to affect RP-U.S. relations. “The sovereignty should
belong to the Philippines in crimes of particular importance.”
Pozon also decided that Smith should be temporarily detained at the Makati City
Hall. However, as of 4 p.m. – more than an hour after the verdict was
promulgated – Smith had not been brought to the said detention facility.
Bulatlat
© 2006 Bulatlat ■ Alipato Media Center
Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.