Alleged US Marines' victim unsure about rape charge--solon
By Maila Ager, INQ7.net
THE FILIPINA who accused US Marines of alleged rape might be forced to reduce the charge to mere "acts of lasciviousness" after purportedly admitting to authorities that she was unsure about the crime and asked to be allowed to change a part of her affidavit to indicate that, a lawmaker said Friday.
Sorsogon Representative Jose Solis, a member of the congressional oversight committee on the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), said it was in an executive meeting of the committee last month when Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez divulged the victim's request.
Solis' disclosure came hours after the Olongapo regional trial court ordered the arrest of the US servicemen.
"During the investigation of the Senate, an official report by the Secretary of Justice said that the victim accompanied by a lady lawyer went to the Department of Justice and asked that a statement in her affidavit be changed to make it appear that she was not sure whether she really was raped," Solis told a press briefing in Quezon City.
When asked for his comment, Gonzalez admitted that the victim had gone to his office last month but said, "I never talked to her."
"I don't know where Congressman Solis got the information," he said.
But Solis said that based on Gonzalez's information to the committee, "the victim could not remember whether she was raped."
"She said what she remembered was that she was repeatedly being kissed," Solis said in Filipino.
"These are the things that I would assume that she was advised not to say, otherwise, it will lessen the charge. Imagine from rape to acts of lasciviousness," said Solis.
Solis said he suspected that the victim had been paid to weaken the case against the accused.
"I told myself that if there is a victim who answered this way, I would immediately think that she had been offered money," Solis said.
"We are interested in prosecuting the case, but if the victim herself does not want it, you be the judge," Solis said.
Cebu Representative Antonio Cuenco, head of the House contingent in the oversight committee, confirmed that based on Gonzalez's report, there was an indication that the victim wanted to recant her testimony against the accused.
But Cuenco clarified that the victim wanted to amend her affidavit so that only one of the accused, Lance Corporal Daniel Smith, would be charged with rape.
"Even when I first interviewed the victim's mother, she told me that only Smith had raped her daughter. She was puzzled why the others were included in the case," he said in a phone interview.
Aside from Smith, the other accused are Lance Corporals Keith Silkwood and Dominic Duplantis; and Staff Sergeant Chad Brian Carpentier.
Sheila Basar, one of the victim's lawyers, denied that her client made changes in her testimony.
"There is nothing on record that there was such recantation," Basar said.
Basar said that her client was unlike Timoteo Soriano Jr., the driver of the van where the crime allegedly took place, who executed another affidavit that overturned what he had said in his first statement, which he claimed he was coerced to sign.
Soriano, who was included initially as one of the co-conspirators, was dropped from the list of the accused despite repudiating his first testimony.
"But as to the victim, there was no written affidavit. So on record, she has not recanted," Basar said.
Basar insisted there could only be a desistance if there was an affidavit on record.
"So if you go to the office of the city prosecutor, you will not find any statement to that effect and if you look at the records of the case there is no such recantation," she stressed.
The 22-year-old Filipina had accused six US Marines of raping her inside a van at the former American naval base in Subic in Zambales province on Nov. 1, 2005.
But only Smith, Silkwood, Duplantis, and Carpentier had been formally charged before the Olongapo regional trial court, which issued an arrest order against them this Friday.
The US Marines are under the custody of the US embassy, which it says is based on the terms of the bilateral VFA that allows large-scale US military exercises in the Philippines.
Nonetheless, the US embassy said that its government was still considering Manila's request for the suspects' transfer, filed in November.
With a report from Tetch Torres
THE FILIPINA who accused US Marines of alleged rape might be forced to reduce the charge to mere "acts of lasciviousness" after purportedly admitting to authorities that she was unsure about the crime and asked to be allowed to change a part of her affidavit to indicate that, a lawmaker said Friday.
Sorsogon Representative Jose Solis, a member of the congressional oversight committee on the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), said it was in an executive meeting of the committee last month when Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez divulged the victim's request.
Solis' disclosure came hours after the Olongapo regional trial court ordered the arrest of the US servicemen.
"During the investigation of the Senate, an official report by the Secretary of Justice said that the victim accompanied by a lady lawyer went to the Department of Justice and asked that a statement in her affidavit be changed to make it appear that she was not sure whether she really was raped," Solis told a press briefing in Quezon City.
When asked for his comment, Gonzalez admitted that the victim had gone to his office last month but said, "I never talked to her."
"I don't know where Congressman Solis got the information," he said.
But Solis said that based on Gonzalez's information to the committee, "the victim could not remember whether she was raped."
"She said what she remembered was that she was repeatedly being kissed," Solis said in Filipino.
"These are the things that I would assume that she was advised not to say, otherwise, it will lessen the charge. Imagine from rape to acts of lasciviousness," said Solis.
Solis said he suspected that the victim had been paid to weaken the case against the accused.
"I told myself that if there is a victim who answered this way, I would immediately think that she had been offered money," Solis said.
"We are interested in prosecuting the case, but if the victim herself does not want it, you be the judge," Solis said.
Cebu Representative Antonio Cuenco, head of the House contingent in the oversight committee, confirmed that based on Gonzalez's report, there was an indication that the victim wanted to recant her testimony against the accused.
But Cuenco clarified that the victim wanted to amend her affidavit so that only one of the accused, Lance Corporal Daniel Smith, would be charged with rape.
"Even when I first interviewed the victim's mother, she told me that only Smith had raped her daughter. She was puzzled why the others were included in the case," he said in a phone interview.
Aside from Smith, the other accused are Lance Corporals Keith Silkwood and Dominic Duplantis; and Staff Sergeant Chad Brian Carpentier.
Sheila Basar, one of the victim's lawyers, denied that her client made changes in her testimony.
"There is nothing on record that there was such recantation," Basar said.
Basar said that her client was unlike Timoteo Soriano Jr., the driver of the van where the crime allegedly took place, who executed another affidavit that overturned what he had said in his first statement, which he claimed he was coerced to sign.
Soriano, who was included initially as one of the co-conspirators, was dropped from the list of the accused despite repudiating his first testimony.
"But as to the victim, there was no written affidavit. So on record, she has not recanted," Basar said.
Basar insisted there could only be a desistance if there was an affidavit on record.
"So if you go to the office of the city prosecutor, you will not find any statement to that effect and if you look at the records of the case there is no such recantation," she stressed.
The 22-year-old Filipina had accused six US Marines of raping her inside a van at the former American naval base in Subic in Zambales province on Nov. 1, 2005.
But only Smith, Silkwood, Duplantis, and Carpentier had been formally charged before the Olongapo regional trial court, which issued an arrest order against them this Friday.
The US Marines are under the custody of the US embassy, which it says is based on the terms of the bilateral VFA that allows large-scale US military exercises in the Philippines.
Nonetheless, the US embassy said that its government was still considering Manila's request for the suspects' transfer, filed in November.
With a report from Tetch Torres
posted by OlongapoCity Zambales at
6:48 AM
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