Gonzalez says focus on rape case is wrong
By JOMAR CANLAS, The Manila Times Reporter
Justice Secretary Raul M. Gonzalez said on Friday that the rape case against four US marines should focus on beginning the trial, not on demanding custody of the accused.
"What is more important is that a trial should proceed whether we are in custody [of the accused] or not. The trial should proceed so that we will know whether the Americans will be convicted or acquitted," Gonzalez said.
He said once the US marines are convicted there is no way they can avoid imprisonment.
"There is no other way that they can avoid incarceration once they are convicted. That is a specific provision of the VFA (Visiting Forces Agreement)," Gonzalez said.
He said Article 5, Section 6 of the VFA provides that the servicemen remain in US custody.
The Marines, Keith Silkwood, Daniel Smith, Chad Carpentier and Dominic Duplantis, are in the custody of the US Embassy, which has refused to turn them over to Philippine authorities.
Gonzalez said he will ask Olongapo Chief Prosecutor Prudencio Jalandoni to go to trial by filing a motion.
Jalandoni is also appealing Judge Renato Dilag’s decision dismissing the case against Timoteo Soriano, the Filipino driver of the van where the alleged rape took place. Jalandoni said the judge should have acted on Soriano’s motion to defer the issuance of the warrant of arrest and determine if there is probable cause to have him arrested.
Carpentier has also lodged a petition for review before the Department of Justice to appeal Dilag’s ruling charging him with rape.
Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuño said the office of the justice secretary is still reviewing the case.
The case has triggered calls in the Senate to abrogate the VFA.
On Friday Rep. Edcel Lagman of Albay said the incumbent senators who voted for the agreement in 1999 should publicly apologize to the people and repent by scrapping it.
Lagman, a guest at the weekly Balitaan sa Hotel Rembrandt media forum, supported the decision of the Legislative Oversight Committee on the VFA to scrap the treaty.
"If we want to abrogate it, then let us no longer renegotiate. We should no longer allow foreign troops on our soil," he said.
Lagman took a dig at the "belated" outbursts of patriotism by some senators against the VFA.
"Their belated outbursts will not wash away their original sin," he said.
He said that if the VFA is renegotiated and submitted to the Senate for concurrence, the six senators who voted for the VFA "with its onerous provisions" should apologize to the people and vow not to anymore surrender Philippine sovereignty and national interest to the Americans.
Lagman was alluding to Senate President Franklin Drilon, Senate President Pro Tempore Juan Flavier, Senators Rodolfo Biazon, Ramon Magsaysay Jr., Juan Ponce Enrile and Miriam Defensor Santiago, who is co-chairman of the joint Legislative Oversight Committee on the VFA implementation.
Santiago, who had called for the amendment of the VFA, said the rape case had generated national outrage and described the agreement as an "archaic product of extraterritoriality, which is no longer recognized internationally."
Lagman said the VFA should be scrapped even if it affects the relations between the Philippines and the US.
"The move should not be from a vantage of fear about its effects on our relations, otherwise we would never be able to stand up for our sovereign rights," he said.
Rep. Antonio Cuenco of Cebu City, who heads the oversight committee together with Santiago, said at the same forum that their decision considers an eventual renegotiation of the VFA.
"We can’t amend the VFA unless it is first abrogated," he said.
The decision of the joint panel to abrogate the VFA still has to be ratified by the House and the Senate before it is submitted to President Arroyo for her signature.
Once the President agrees to scrap the VFA, the government will send a notice of termination to the US agreement. The agreement will remain in force for 60 days from the date of notice. After that, it will be considered abrogated and the period of amending it will start.
Cuenco lamented the improper procedure for US custody of the rape suspects. He pointed out that the US Embassy had never made a formal request for the custody of the Marines.
"There was only an oral request by an underling. A request may be denied; it is not automatically granted," he added.
Cuenco admitted, however, that the Philippines can do nothing else right now to assume custody of the accused.
With Efren Danao and Jonathan Vicente
Justice Secretary Raul M. Gonzalez said on Friday that the rape case against four US marines should focus on beginning the trial, not on demanding custody of the accused.
"What is more important is that a trial should proceed whether we are in custody [of the accused] or not. The trial should proceed so that we will know whether the Americans will be convicted or acquitted," Gonzalez said.
He said once the US marines are convicted there is no way they can avoid imprisonment.
"There is no other way that they can avoid incarceration once they are convicted. That is a specific provision of the VFA (Visiting Forces Agreement)," Gonzalez said.
He said Article 5, Section 6 of the VFA provides that the servicemen remain in US custody.
The Marines, Keith Silkwood, Daniel Smith, Chad Carpentier and Dominic Duplantis, are in the custody of the US Embassy, which has refused to turn them over to Philippine authorities.
Gonzalez said he will ask Olongapo Chief Prosecutor Prudencio Jalandoni to go to trial by filing a motion.
Jalandoni is also appealing Judge Renato Dilag’s decision dismissing the case against Timoteo Soriano, the Filipino driver of the van where the alleged rape took place. Jalandoni said the judge should have acted on Soriano’s motion to defer the issuance of the warrant of arrest and determine if there is probable cause to have him arrested.
Carpentier has also lodged a petition for review before the Department of Justice to appeal Dilag’s ruling charging him with rape.
Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuño said the office of the justice secretary is still reviewing the case.
The case has triggered calls in the Senate to abrogate the VFA.
On Friday Rep. Edcel Lagman of Albay said the incumbent senators who voted for the agreement in 1999 should publicly apologize to the people and repent by scrapping it.
Lagman, a guest at the weekly Balitaan sa Hotel Rembrandt media forum, supported the decision of the Legislative Oversight Committee on the VFA to scrap the treaty.
"If we want to abrogate it, then let us no longer renegotiate. We should no longer allow foreign troops on our soil," he said.
Lagman took a dig at the "belated" outbursts of patriotism by some senators against the VFA.
"Their belated outbursts will not wash away their original sin," he said.
He said that if the VFA is renegotiated and submitted to the Senate for concurrence, the six senators who voted for the VFA "with its onerous provisions" should apologize to the people and vow not to anymore surrender Philippine sovereignty and national interest to the Americans.
Lagman was alluding to Senate President Franklin Drilon, Senate President Pro Tempore Juan Flavier, Senators Rodolfo Biazon, Ramon Magsaysay Jr., Juan Ponce Enrile and Miriam Defensor Santiago, who is co-chairman of the joint Legislative Oversight Committee on the VFA implementation.
Santiago, who had called for the amendment of the VFA, said the rape case had generated national outrage and described the agreement as an "archaic product of extraterritoriality, which is no longer recognized internationally."
Lagman said the VFA should be scrapped even if it affects the relations between the Philippines and the US.
"The move should not be from a vantage of fear about its effects on our relations, otherwise we would never be able to stand up for our sovereign rights," he said.
Rep. Antonio Cuenco of Cebu City, who heads the oversight committee together with Santiago, said at the same forum that their decision considers an eventual renegotiation of the VFA.
"We can’t amend the VFA unless it is first abrogated," he said.
The decision of the joint panel to abrogate the VFA still has to be ratified by the House and the Senate before it is submitted to President Arroyo for her signature.
Once the President agrees to scrap the VFA, the government will send a notice of termination to the US agreement. The agreement will remain in force for 60 days from the date of notice. After that, it will be considered abrogated and the period of amending it will start.
Cuenco lamented the improper procedure for US custody of the rape suspects. He pointed out that the US Embassy had never made a formal request for the custody of the Marines.
"There was only an oral request by an underling. A request may be denied; it is not automatically granted," he added.
Cuenco admitted, however, that the Philippines can do nothing else right now to assume custody of the accused.
With Efren Danao and Jonathan Vicente
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