SUBIC RAPE CASEUS marines' plea for deadline extension on affidavits denied

By Tetch TorresINQ7.net
THE OLONGAPO Prosecutor's Office rejected a petition by six US servicemen allegedly accused of raping a 22-year-old Filipina in Subic to extend the deadline for submitting their counter-affidavits.

"We do not find their motion meritorious," Olongapo Prosecutor Raymond Viray told INQ7 in a phone interview.

The motion filed by the six US servicemen seeks to defer the first preliminary hearing on November 23 and extend the deadline of submission of their counter-affidavits.

The 10-day deadline given to the six will expire this Friday.

Viray said the rules did not allow an extension in the submission of counter-affidavits.
Viray said the deadline was actually more than the prescribed 10-day period because the subpoena informing them of the date of the preliminary investigation and the deadline to submit their counter-affidavits had been sent to the US embassy on November 8.

Nonetheless, the suspects can still submit their affidavits on or before November 23, Viray said.

Viray also said that they had the sworn testimonies of six witnesses against the US marines