Subic Bay rape case verdict this month (Philippines)

[oblivious]

US marines in Subic rape case coping, "positive" of Nov. 27 verdict
Nov 2, 2006
On the anniversary of the alleged gang rape Nov. 1, 2005 of a Filipino woman by four U.S. marines inside the Subic Bay Freeport, their leader today said they are coping and trying to maintain a positive outlook of the case.

S/Sgt. Chad Carpentier told the Philippines News Agency (PNA), his friends are confident of the verdict that Makati Regional Trial Court Judge Benjamin Pozon is expected to promulgate about November 27.

...The quartet were on liberty on November 1 and were having fun inside one of Subic Bay's night clubs when Smith, from the State of Missouri, got acquainted with the woman.

Smith insisted what happened with Nicole was consensual sex; the woman said she was in a very drunken state while being assaulted.

She claimed Smith's companions egged him on but the three denied the allegations.

Carpentier, in particular, said he was unaware of what was happening at the back of the van since he was sitting by the driver's seat out front.
http://news.balita.ph/html/article.php/20061102180524952

Subic rape complainant says it’s up to the judge now
October 11, 2006
By Jefferson Antiporda, Reporter

THE integrity and fairness of the judge is our last hope.”

So said Evalyn Ursua, private prosecutor in the Subic rape case. She feared the government doesn’t seem to want the complainant to win the case. She based her misgivings on official acts taken and statements issued by the Department of Justice.

The lawyer accused Justice Secretary Raul M. Gonzalez of “lawyering for the defense.” She cited as proof the DoJ resolution downgrading the charge against the three coaccused, S/Sgt. Chad Carpentier and L/Cpls. Dominic Duplantis and Keith Silkwood. She recalled that only upon insistent public demand did Gonzalez include the three in the charge sheet as coconspirators.

...Most telling of all, according to the private prosecutor, (Justice Secretary) Gonzalez originally claimed no rape had ever occurred and that Nicole and her mother, Susan Nicolas, were just imagining things.

“All this has been said in public,” Ursua noted. “The government is not serious. It wants to lose the case. That’s how we interpret it.”

Last week Senior State Prosecutor Emelie Fe de los Santos decided to forgo the presentation of rebuttal witnesses, claiming the prosecution had already presented enough evidence to secure a conviction.

...On Monday the justice department sacked State Prosecutor Hazel Valdez. The only member of the prosecution panel to disagree with the decision, Valdez had gone on public to excoriate her colleagues.

...Ursua said Nicole and her mother were enraged by the decision not to pursue the rebuttal phase. The two, she added, were also disappointed over the removal of Valdez from the case.

She said the mother and daughter now doubt their chances of winning the case
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2006/oct/11/yehey/metro/20061011met1.html


Defense claims Nicole being used to abrogate RP-US VFA
Nov 10, 2006

MANILA (PNAFea-ture) - Counsels for an American marine charged of conspiring to rape a Filipino woman with three other members of his platoon a year ago have asked for an acquittal, even as they questioned her 'loose morals' for allowing herself to be used at the defendants' expense.

They indicated that organizations purportedly supporting the woman, identified in the press as 'Nicole,' are using her case to prop up their campaign against the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), the framework of the annual Philippines-US military exercises in which the four accused were participants then.

The organizations were not named, but the militant 'Gabriela' women's group is known to have spearheaded anti-VFA rallies with streamers saying 'the rape of Nicole is the rape of the Philippines.'

It was not justice for Nicole that the organizations were seeking but the abrogation of the VFA, and she went for it and 'played the part (of a rape victim)' at the expense of the lives of the U.S. marines, the defense asserted.

http://bond.lanesystems.com/sitegen/article.asp?wid=125&cid=457&aid=39866

Nicole might forgive accused marine, if...

By Ferdinand Fabella

THE complainant in the Subic rape case said yesterday she could forgive American serviceman Daniel Smith if the 21-year-old American serviceman apologized to her.
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=news5_oct16_2006

'Nicole' is crying out for justice

By Rina Jimenez-David
Inquirer
11/03/2006

..."Nicole" issued a statement for the occasion, and here is her statement in full, translated into English from the original in Filipino.
* * *

"A YEAR has passed since I was raped and dumped by American soldiers on the roadside like a pig. On this day last year, I went to Subic with my siblings for a vacation. At that time, I was filled with life and hope for my future. At that time, I was happy living with my family. I never realized that my vacation in Subic would end in a tragedy. On this day last year, my life changed.

"Today, after one year, I have returned to Subic. And with my return, I note also the return of the USS Essex, the ship on which the rapists Daniel Smith, Chad Carpentier, Dominic Duplantis and Keith Silkwood were on board. Here again are thousands of American servicemen for their "rest and recreation." Again they are looking for women to victimize and exploit. On this day, how many women will be raped as I was raped then? How many "Nicoles" will American soldiers throw by the wayside, or abandon with their souls and bodies in tatters? How long will they keep hearing loud laughter ring out while they are being raped?

"It wasn't easy for me to file a complaint against my rapists. And neither was the (legal) system kind to me after I decided to pursue the case. Instead of taking my side in my fight, our government took steps to make my situation much harder. I have not received a single message of support from our woman President, while the secretary of justice has even repeatedly defended my rapists.

"During the almost daily trials at the Makati Regional Trial Court, I experienced the reality that the rape victim is raped repeatedly inside and outside the courtroom while the case is being tried. In the face of all the insults and recrimination that I have gone through in the past year, only my belief in truth and justice and the support of my family and of women have been my sole source of strength and resolve not to surrender. My decision to pursue the case should be proof of my conviction that Daniel Smith, Chad Carpentier, Keith Silkwood and Dominic Duplantis deserve to be in prison.

"They should be made to suffer for the indignities they forced me to go through. They should be put behind bars. Their rightful punishment should serve as an example to the whole world and to American military personnel.

"On this day, I am crying out for justice!"
http://opinion.inq7.net/inquireropinion/columns/view_article.php?article_id=30252

Demonizing the rape victim

Anne Cardenas Branigin, Nov 08, 2006

Shortly after Thanksgiving, we expect to receive the court’s decision on the Subic Bay rape case. To those paying attention to the case, it has come to symbolize many things. It has come to symbolize the relationship between America and the Philippines, between foreign military and local civilians, between international relations and national pride.

Perhaps more than anything, however, it has symbolized how far we have not come, as Filipinos and as Americans, in the way we treat rape cases.

For the most part, I like to side-step sweeping generalizations and absolute statements. But, when it comes to this issue, I am very angry. I have witnessed trial after trial where the alleged victim of a rape is demonized – to horrific proportions. We might as well attach hooves and a serpent to the caricatures we draw of these women. .....

http://www.philippinenews.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=da2b96f16d9936b326c2f9179fbdcb24