Arrest warrants to be issued soon against US Marines: Philippines
MANILA, (AFP) - Warrants of arrest against four US Marines accused of rape are expected to be issued soon, the Philippine government said Monday.
The government was "determined to pursue justice" for the 22-year-old Filipina who accused the men of raping her on November 1, President Gloria Arroyo's spokesman Ignacio Bunye said.
"Philippine sovereignity and criminal justice shall be upheld in all stages," Bunye said in a statement, following local media reports that the US government would seek to continue having custody of the suspects or might allow some of them to slip out of the country.
"Philippine sovereignty is firm as we anticipate the issuance of the warrant of arrest against the suspects, which will mark the inception of the trial," Bunye said without giving a date.
Six Marines were originally named as suspects, but after a lengthy preliminary investigation the justice department said only four were found to have allegedly committed the crime.
They are in the custody of the US embassy.
The rape allegedly took place shortly after the Marines joined large-scale joint exercises with their Filipino counterparts in the former US Naval base of Subic, north of Manila.
The case is being closely followed in this former American colony, with activists saying it has triggered bitter memories of past abuses.
The Americans colonized the country for nearly 50 years, taking over from the Spanish who ceded the country in 1898.
The American military presence only ended in 1992, when the last US troops left the port of Subic after the Senate rejected a renewal of base lease agreements.
No American soldier charged with rape or any other crime has ever been convicted by a Philippine court and authorities say the new case will test the provisions of the visiting forces agreement (VFA).
The VFA is a treaty that gives a certain degree of immunity to American soldiers taking part in joint maneuvers here.
Bunye acknowledged that the rape case "may indeed be a test of some provisions of the VFA" but stressed it should not affect long-term ties.
"It should not be a test of our time-honored friendship with the United States," he said
===
Gonzalez: No deliberate misinterpretation of VFA
The government was "determined to pursue justice" for the 22-year-old Filipina who accused the men of raping her on November 1, President Gloria Arroyo's spokesman Ignacio Bunye said.
"Philippine sovereignity and criminal justice shall be upheld in all stages," Bunye said in a statement, following local media reports that the US government would seek to continue having custody of the suspects or might allow some of them to slip out of the country.
"Philippine sovereignty is firm as we anticipate the issuance of the warrant of arrest against the suspects, which will mark the inception of the trial," Bunye said without giving a date.
Six Marines were originally named as suspects, but after a lengthy preliminary investigation the justice department said only four were found to have allegedly committed the crime.
They are in the custody of the US embassy.
The rape allegedly took place shortly after the Marines joined large-scale joint exercises with their Filipino counterparts in the former US Naval base of Subic, north of Manila.
The case is being closely followed in this former American colony, with activists saying it has triggered bitter memories of past abuses.
The Americans colonized the country for nearly 50 years, taking over from the Spanish who ceded the country in 1898.
The American military presence only ended in 1992, when the last US troops left the port of Subic after the Senate rejected a renewal of base lease agreements.
No American soldier charged with rape or any other crime has ever been convicted by a Philippine court and authorities say the new case will test the provisions of the visiting forces agreement (VFA).
The VFA is a treaty that gives a certain degree of immunity to American soldiers taking part in joint maneuvers here.
Bunye acknowledged that the rape case "may indeed be a test of some provisions of the VFA" but stressed it should not affect long-term ties.
"It should not be a test of our time-honored friendship with the United States," he said
===
Gonzalez: No deliberate misinterpretation of VFA
House Deputy Minority Leader Satur Ocampo on Monday called on Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez to immediately resign for "bungling and making a mess out of the rape case against four United States marines."
"Gonzalez is a shame to the legal profession, to government and the nation," Ocampo said in a statement.
He said Gonzalez should be replaced by "a competent and patriotic lawyer who could enforce the laws and Constitution against any and all violators, including erring US soldiers."
Ocampo said the Justice Secretary had deliberately misinterpreted the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) in favor of the Americans. He accused the justice chief of lawyering for the suspects "by repeatedly downplaying the rape case and even maligning the victim."
"He has given the most lenient treatment to suspects who have allegedly committed rape, a most heinous crime in our country, and has up to now refused to assert Philippine jurisdiction over the rape suspects," he said.
Ocampo said Gonzalez should have immediately requested jurisdiction over the US marines accused in the case as provided for under the VFA.
The Bayan Muna lawmaker also reacted negatively to Gonzalez's allegation that the rape case may result in the breakup of ties between Manila and Washington.
"It was the act of rape and not the prosecution of the suspected rapists that is the main problem," Ocampo said.
In their affidavits, five of the accused denied allegations that the woman was gang-raped in a van at a former US Navy base at Subic last November 1, suggesting the sex was consensual.
Two of the suspects in the rape case, Albert Lara and Correy Burris, had been excluded in the charge sheet for showing evidence that they were not in the van when the crime supposedly happened.
The two were at Yellow Cab pizza parlor in the Subic Freeport Zone when the incident took place, according to the proof they provided.
On Thursday, Prudencio Jalandoni of Olongapo City, lead prosecutor in the rape case, insisted that the US Embassy turn over the accused to Philippine officials.
Jalandoni said that if prosecutors insist on issuing arrest warrants for the four, it will mean going through diplomatic channels because of the VFA.
Washington has not responded publicly to an earlier request by the Department of Foreign Affairs to transfer custody of the soldiers to local authorities.
The case against the four US servicemen and Timoteo Soriano, the Filipino driver of the van where the rape allegedly occurred, will be raffled on January 3 by Executive Judge Avelino Lazo of the Olongapo Regional Trial Court. ABS-CBN
===
GIs' case imperils RP-US ties
DOJ: Arrest could be 'unfriendly act' towards US
By Armand N. Nocum, Inquirer
AMID CALLS FOR THE ARREST of the four US Marines charged with raping a 22-year-old Filipino woman, the Department of Justice yesterday warned that Philippine-United States relations could be strained should the arrest result in a unilateral abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement.
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said the Philippines must first negotiate with the United States to "return to us the custody of the accused" before the arrest warrants against the American soldiers could be served.
"We cannot arrest them and break the treaty unilaterally. That can become an unfriendly act with a country that is aligned with us," Gonzalez said.
This legal issue is bound to crop up when the court in Olongapo City raffles off the case tomorrow and the judge is called upon to issue warrants in accordance with the law, the justice secretary said.
"That is the issue that will ensue whether the warrants issued by the court can be enforced, considering the VFA provision," Gonzalez said.
Paragraph 6, Article 5, of the VFA states: "The custody of any United States personnel over whom the Philippines is to exercise jurisdiction shall immediately reside with the United States military authorities, if they so request, from the commission of the offense until completion of all judicial proceedings."
Gonzalez said the Philippines could not just disregard the provisions of the VFA because a "treaty is a part of our laws of the land."
He said the VFA was ratified by the Philippine Senate. But Akbayan Rep. Loretta Ann Rosales pointed out that the VFA was a mere executive agreement because the US Senate had yet to ratify it.
Six US servicemen originally underwent preliminary investigation before the Olongapo City prosecutor's office on allegations that they raped a Filipino woman inside a van at the Subic Bay Freeport, a former US naval base.
Four of them, along with the Filipino van driver Timoteo Soriano Jr., were formally charged on Tuesday, namely, Staff Sgt. Chad Carpentier and Lance Corporals Dominic Duplantis, Daniel Smith and Keith Silkwood. The complaints against Lance Corporals Corey Burris and Albert Lara were dismissed.
Lawmakers have raised a howl over the detailing of the accused at the Joint US Military Assistance Group (Jusmag), an office within the US Embassy compound on Roxas Boulevard in Manila.
Lenient treatment
Rosales and Davao del Sur Rep. Douglas Cagas said Friday the lenient treatment of the accused emphasized the need for the Philippine government to insist that it take custody of them.
For his part, House Minority Leader Francis Escudero said the accused should be detained. "They should be [kept] in a detention facility very much like Filipinos who are accused of common crimes in the United States," Escudero said.
"Whatever special status they have as US servicemen, they lost it when they committed a crime punishable by our laws," he said.
Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson, a member of the bicameral committee on the VFA, also wants the government to exercise its sovereignty to gain custody of the four Marines.
Prosecutors earlier demanded custody of the Americans, but Undersecretary Zosimo Paredes, executive director of the Presidential Commission on the VFA, said the VFA allowed the US government to take custody of the accused until the case was decided.
Judicial cognizance
Gonzalez disagreed with the view of Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuño that the Olongapo court was free to order the arrest of the accused because the judiciary was a separate branch of government.
Zuño earlier said the DOJ would not pursue the custody issue because it was bound by the VFA being part of the executive department.
Gonzalez said the judges should also take "judicial cognizance" of the VFA.
"The courts, under our rules [of court], must take judicial knowledge or judicial cognizance of laws and treaties. So, what happens there is that when the court is at the stage of issuing a warrant, I'm sure it will have to consider that because the court will look funny ... if it does not take judicial cognizance of [the treaty]," he said.
No debate on custody
The justice secretary said the VFA should be given due recognition because the Senate had deliberated on the agreement.
"If the court will force the issue, it's possible that the Americans will raise that with the Supreme Court."
Zuño also earlier raised the danger of the Americans bringing the matter to the high court, saying it would affect the VFA provision, which states that the judicial process involving US servicemen charged with crimes here must be completed in a year's time.
The one-year period runs from the time of arraignment to the sentencing. It also includes the appeal to the high courts, according to Gonzalez.
Thus, Gonzalez said, the issue of custody should no longer be debated.
"For me, we should no longer debate on that because if they bring the question of custody before the Supreme Court, then the issue will drag on," he said.
Okinawa case
Asked about the case in Okinawa where the United States agreed to turn over custody of its soldiers who were accused of rape to the Japanese government, Gonzalez said it was another story.
He said the United States could not be faulted for availing itself of the VFA provision allowing it to keep custody of its men accused of a crime.
"To me, ideally, we should take custody, but I think we should not also unilaterally break that treaty. If we think that the treaty is of paramount importance to us, then we should negotiate with the Americans [so] that they will return custody to us," the justice secretary said.
"Gonzalez is a shame to the legal profession, to government and the nation," Ocampo said in a statement.
He said Gonzalez should be replaced by "a competent and patriotic lawyer who could enforce the laws and Constitution against any and all violators, including erring US soldiers."
Ocampo said the Justice Secretary had deliberately misinterpreted the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) in favor of the Americans. He accused the justice chief of lawyering for the suspects "by repeatedly downplaying the rape case and even maligning the victim."
"He has given the most lenient treatment to suspects who have allegedly committed rape, a most heinous crime in our country, and has up to now refused to assert Philippine jurisdiction over the rape suspects," he said.
Ocampo said Gonzalez should have immediately requested jurisdiction over the US marines accused in the case as provided for under the VFA.
The Bayan Muna lawmaker also reacted negatively to Gonzalez's allegation that the rape case may result in the breakup of ties between Manila and Washington.
"It was the act of rape and not the prosecution of the suspected rapists that is the main problem," Ocampo said.
In their affidavits, five of the accused denied allegations that the woman was gang-raped in a van at a former US Navy base at Subic last November 1, suggesting the sex was consensual.
Two of the suspects in the rape case, Albert Lara and Correy Burris, had been excluded in the charge sheet for showing evidence that they were not in the van when the crime supposedly happened.
The two were at Yellow Cab pizza parlor in the Subic Freeport Zone when the incident took place, according to the proof they provided.
On Thursday, Prudencio Jalandoni of Olongapo City, lead prosecutor in the rape case, insisted that the US Embassy turn over the accused to Philippine officials.
Jalandoni said that if prosecutors insist on issuing arrest warrants for the four, it will mean going through diplomatic channels because of the VFA.
Washington has not responded publicly to an earlier request by the Department of Foreign Affairs to transfer custody of the soldiers to local authorities.
The case against the four US servicemen and Timoteo Soriano, the Filipino driver of the van where the rape allegedly occurred, will be raffled on January 3 by Executive Judge Avelino Lazo of the Olongapo Regional Trial Court. ABS-CBN
===
GIs' case imperils RP-US ties
DOJ: Arrest could be 'unfriendly act' towards US
By Armand N. Nocum, Inquirer
AMID CALLS FOR THE ARREST of the four US Marines charged with raping a 22-year-old Filipino woman, the Department of Justice yesterday warned that Philippine-United States relations could be strained should the arrest result in a unilateral abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement.
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said the Philippines must first negotiate with the United States to "return to us the custody of the accused" before the arrest warrants against the American soldiers could be served.
"We cannot arrest them and break the treaty unilaterally. That can become an unfriendly act with a country that is aligned with us," Gonzalez said.
This legal issue is bound to crop up when the court in Olongapo City raffles off the case tomorrow and the judge is called upon to issue warrants in accordance with the law, the justice secretary said.
"That is the issue that will ensue whether the warrants issued by the court can be enforced, considering the VFA provision," Gonzalez said.
Paragraph 6, Article 5, of the VFA states: "The custody of any United States personnel over whom the Philippines is to exercise jurisdiction shall immediately reside with the United States military authorities, if they so request, from the commission of the offense until completion of all judicial proceedings."
Gonzalez said the Philippines could not just disregard the provisions of the VFA because a "treaty is a part of our laws of the land."
He said the VFA was ratified by the Philippine Senate. But Akbayan Rep. Loretta Ann Rosales pointed out that the VFA was a mere executive agreement because the US Senate had yet to ratify it.
Six US servicemen originally underwent preliminary investigation before the Olongapo City prosecutor's office on allegations that they raped a Filipino woman inside a van at the Subic Bay Freeport, a former US naval base.
Four of them, along with the Filipino van driver Timoteo Soriano Jr., were formally charged on Tuesday, namely, Staff Sgt. Chad Carpentier and Lance Corporals Dominic Duplantis, Daniel Smith and Keith Silkwood. The complaints against Lance Corporals Corey Burris and Albert Lara were dismissed.
Lawmakers have raised a howl over the detailing of the accused at the Joint US Military Assistance Group (Jusmag), an office within the US Embassy compound on Roxas Boulevard in Manila.
Lenient treatment
Rosales and Davao del Sur Rep. Douglas Cagas said Friday the lenient treatment of the accused emphasized the need for the Philippine government to insist that it take custody of them.
For his part, House Minority Leader Francis Escudero said the accused should be detained. "They should be [kept] in a detention facility very much like Filipinos who are accused of common crimes in the United States," Escudero said.
"Whatever special status they have as US servicemen, they lost it when they committed a crime punishable by our laws," he said.
Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson, a member of the bicameral committee on the VFA, also wants the government to exercise its sovereignty to gain custody of the four Marines.
Prosecutors earlier demanded custody of the Americans, but Undersecretary Zosimo Paredes, executive director of the Presidential Commission on the VFA, said the VFA allowed the US government to take custody of the accused until the case was decided.
Judicial cognizance
Gonzalez disagreed with the view of Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuño that the Olongapo court was free to order the arrest of the accused because the judiciary was a separate branch of government.
Zuño earlier said the DOJ would not pursue the custody issue because it was bound by the VFA being part of the executive department.
Gonzalez said the judges should also take "judicial cognizance" of the VFA.
"The courts, under our rules [of court], must take judicial knowledge or judicial cognizance of laws and treaties. So, what happens there is that when the court is at the stage of issuing a warrant, I'm sure it will have to consider that because the court will look funny ... if it does not take judicial cognizance of [the treaty]," he said.
No debate on custody
The justice secretary said the VFA should be given due recognition because the Senate had deliberated on the agreement.
"If the court will force the issue, it's possible that the Americans will raise that with the Supreme Court."
Zuño also earlier raised the danger of the Americans bringing the matter to the high court, saying it would affect the VFA provision, which states that the judicial process involving US servicemen charged with crimes here must be completed in a year's time.
The one-year period runs from the time of arraignment to the sentencing. It also includes the appeal to the high courts, according to Gonzalez.
Thus, Gonzalez said, the issue of custody should no longer be debated.
"For me, we should no longer debate on that because if they bring the question of custody before the Supreme Court, then the issue will drag on," he said.
Okinawa case
Asked about the case in Okinawa where the United States agreed to turn over custody of its soldiers who were accused of rape to the Japanese government, Gonzalez said it was another story.
He said the United States could not be faulted for availing itself of the VFA provision allowing it to keep custody of its men accused of a crime.
"To me, ideally, we should take custody, but I think we should not also unilaterally break that treaty. If we think that the treaty is of paramount importance to us, then we should negotiate with the Americans [so] that they will return custody to us," the justice secretary said.
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