Romulo to ask Rice for custody of rape suspects
(AFP) - Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo will formally ask the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for custody of four American soldiers accused of rape, a source in the department said Monday.
The issue will be raised when Romulo leaves Wednesday to meet up with Rice in Washington, the diplomatic source said on condition of anonymity.
"There is pressure from the government to have custody of the US soldiers. The Secretary will definitely take it up with Secretary Rice," the source said, adding that the Philippines would cite the "extraordinary nature" of the case.
The US Marines were accused of raping a 22-year-old Filipina woman on November 1, shortly after they took part in joint military trainings in the former US Naval base of Subic north of Manila.
Also included in the charge sheet is the Filipino driver of the Americans, while two other US Marines were cleared of any charges.
The soldiers are now under the custody of the US embassy in Manila, which has cited the visiting forces agreement (VFA) in refusing to turn them over to local authorities. A warrant for their arrest may be issued by a local court near Subic by this week.
The VFA is a treaty that gives a certain amount of legal protection to US troops taking part in joint exercises here.
Anti-US activists and nationalist groups however say the treaty encourages abuses, and the case has triggered bitter memories of past abuses in this former US colony.
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Senate inquiry sought on GI custody issue
By TJ Burgonio, Inquirer
SENATOR Miriam Defensor-Santiago is seeking an inquiry to clarify the US government’s position on the Philippines’ request for custody of the four US Marines charged with raping a Filipino woman at the Subic Bay Freeport in November last year.
The senator filed yesterday a resolution directing the committee on foreign relations, which she chairs, to look into the issue of custody following the US military’s decision to turn over to Japanese authorities an American serviceman accused of killing and robbing a Japanese women in Japan.
Santiago noted that the four accused in the rape case had filed motions seeking judicial determination of probable cause “or a stay of arrest,” thus delaying the local courts’ issuance of warrants for their arrest.
In contrast, the US military had agreed to hand over the 21-year-old sailor charged with killing the Japanese woman to the Japanese authorities early this month, she said.
No legal basis
“There appears to be no appreciable legal basis for the difference in treatment by the US military authorities over the Americans accused in the two countries,” the senator said in her resolution.
Santiago said the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) called for US custody of American personnel accused of crimes “until completion of all judicial proceedings,” while Japan’s Status of Forces Agreement (Sofa) gave the US custody of their personnel “until the accused is charged.”
“Ostensibly, there is a difference because while the VFA provides for US custody until the judicial process is finished, the Sofa provides for US custody only until the accused is charged in court,” she said.
“The seeming difference between the provisions on custody of the VFA (Philippines) and Sofa (Japan) is negated by the provision in the VFA that even if the US is entitled to custody, in extraordinary cases, the US, if requested, shall take into full account the request for Philippine custody,” she added.
General rule on treaties
The senator further pointed out that the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties provided that a treaty should be interpreted in good faith in accordance with the ordinary meaning of the terms of the treaty as well as its purpose.
“Under this general rule on interpretation, the VFA ‘extraordinary case’ exception should be interpreted in good faith by the Americans in the context of respect for and observance of Philippine legal procedures and in the light of the purpose to treat the Philippines as an ally, equal with other American allies,” she said.
In particular, the inquiry would determine whether the US had a “diplomatic obligation to interpret the VFA ‘extraordinary case’ exception so as to equal to the Sofa provision that US custody is allowed only until the accused American is charged in court,” the senator said.
RP can’t react hastily
If the inquiry “should prove to be fruitless,” the same committee should then inquire “whether it is necessary to request a renegotiation of the VFA, to the end that the Philippine custody provision should be amended so as to approximate the Japanese custody provision,” she said.
Senator Rodolfo Biazon urged the government not to rush to gain custody of the four accused without carefully studying the implications.
“We have our processes in this country. We can’t just react hastily without studying all of these. Because there are serious implications on the credibility of our justice system, on the credibility of our government in maintaining its sovereignty and in abiding by the provisions of the Visiting Forces Agreement,” he said in a briefing.
The difference between the VFA and the Sofa should be studied, he added.
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez yesterday said the country was stuck with the VFA and the procedures outlined there in handling the criminal case against the four servicemen.
“Let us go through the process; we are not a rogue state that we do not know how to comply with our obligations,” he said, reacting to continuing calls for the government to move aggressively to take custody of the US servicemen.
He said it was enough that the Department of Foreign Affairs had already asked the US government to turn over custody of the accused Americans to the country and it was set to reiterate the request.
Compliance in good faith
“Under international law, when you enter into a treaty, you are supposed to comply in good faith and implement it in good faith unless the situation suddenly changes that you cannot anymore implement it. Then you can ask to either abrogate or renegotiate it,” he said in a telephone interview with the Inquirer.
Gonzalez said Senators Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Richard Gordon -- who pressed for the country to take custody of the American soldiers in view of the Japan experience -- could only be voicing “emotional sentiments.”
“But I cannot be guided by emotional sentiments, I have to follow what the law says … You know they were the ones who ratified this,” he said of the Senate.
Aside from the contentious issues of custody and jurisdiction, the judge trying the case expects another snag to crop up -- where to jail the accused.
Judge Renato Dilag told the Inquirer in a phone interview on Monday the court could not unilaterally decide on a place of detention.
Dilag said Paragraph 10, Article 5 of the Visiting Forces Agreement stated that “both parties may agree on the place where the accused may be detained.”
In Dilag’s interpretation, that provision meant that the prison facility must be approved by the Philippine and the US governments.
“So even if I issue the arrest warrants when I find probable cause to do that, I cannot immediately send them off to a local jail of my court’s choice,” he said. With reports from Armand N. Nocum, Volt Contreras and Tonette Orejas, PDI Central Luzon Desk
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Hearing sa Subic rape case inisnab ng 4 GI
NAGBABALA ang Department of Justice (DoJ) kaugnay sa hindi pagtupad ng US government na iharap sa pagdinig ng kaso ang apat na sundalong Kano na sangkot sa Subic rape case.
Ipinaliwanag ni Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez na hindi maaaring gamiting delaying tactics ng Estados Unidos ang hindi pagpapadalo sa mga akusadong sundalo upang maubos ang one-year period na itinakda sa Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) nang hindi natatapos ang pagdinig.
Binigyang-diin ni Gonzalez na hindi maaaring antalain ng mga Amerikano ang pag-usad ng kaso upang maubos ang isang taon na panahon para sa pagdinig sa kaso alinsunod sa VFA.
Sa ilalim ang nasabing treaty, kailangang matapos sa loob ng isang taon na paglilitis sa sinumang sundalong Amerikano na maaakusahan sa Pilipinas.
Nilinaw ng Kalihim sa kanyang ipina-dalang memorandum kay Olongapo Chief Prosecutor Prudencio Jalandoni na hindi kasama sa nabanggit na one-year period ang mga panahon na maantala ang paglilitis dahil no-show ang mga Amerikano sa mga araw ng pagdinig.
Arlene Posadas, Journal.com.ph
The issue will be raised when Romulo leaves Wednesday to meet up with Rice in Washington, the diplomatic source said on condition of anonymity.
"There is pressure from the government to have custody of the US soldiers. The Secretary will definitely take it up with Secretary Rice," the source said, adding that the Philippines would cite the "extraordinary nature" of the case.
The US Marines were accused of raping a 22-year-old Filipina woman on November 1, shortly after they took part in joint military trainings in the former US Naval base of Subic north of Manila.
Also included in the charge sheet is the Filipino driver of the Americans, while two other US Marines were cleared of any charges.
The soldiers are now under the custody of the US embassy in Manila, which has cited the visiting forces agreement (VFA) in refusing to turn them over to local authorities. A warrant for their arrest may be issued by a local court near Subic by this week.
The VFA is a treaty that gives a certain amount of legal protection to US troops taking part in joint exercises here.
Anti-US activists and nationalist groups however say the treaty encourages abuses, and the case has triggered bitter memories of past abuses in this former US colony.
===
Senate inquiry sought on GI custody issue
By TJ Burgonio, Inquirer
SENATOR Miriam Defensor-Santiago is seeking an inquiry to clarify the US government’s position on the Philippines’ request for custody of the four US Marines charged with raping a Filipino woman at the Subic Bay Freeport in November last year.
The senator filed yesterday a resolution directing the committee on foreign relations, which she chairs, to look into the issue of custody following the US military’s decision to turn over to Japanese authorities an American serviceman accused of killing and robbing a Japanese women in Japan.
Santiago noted that the four accused in the rape case had filed motions seeking judicial determination of probable cause “or a stay of arrest,” thus delaying the local courts’ issuance of warrants for their arrest.
In contrast, the US military had agreed to hand over the 21-year-old sailor charged with killing the Japanese woman to the Japanese authorities early this month, she said.
No legal basis
“There appears to be no appreciable legal basis for the difference in treatment by the US military authorities over the Americans accused in the two countries,” the senator said in her resolution.
Santiago said the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) called for US custody of American personnel accused of crimes “until completion of all judicial proceedings,” while Japan’s Status of Forces Agreement (Sofa) gave the US custody of their personnel “until the accused is charged.”
“Ostensibly, there is a difference because while the VFA provides for US custody until the judicial process is finished, the Sofa provides for US custody only until the accused is charged in court,” she said.
“The seeming difference between the provisions on custody of the VFA (Philippines) and Sofa (Japan) is negated by the provision in the VFA that even if the US is entitled to custody, in extraordinary cases, the US, if requested, shall take into full account the request for Philippine custody,” she added.
General rule on treaties
The senator further pointed out that the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties provided that a treaty should be interpreted in good faith in accordance with the ordinary meaning of the terms of the treaty as well as its purpose.
“Under this general rule on interpretation, the VFA ‘extraordinary case’ exception should be interpreted in good faith by the Americans in the context of respect for and observance of Philippine legal procedures and in the light of the purpose to treat the Philippines as an ally, equal with other American allies,” she said.
In particular, the inquiry would determine whether the US had a “diplomatic obligation to interpret the VFA ‘extraordinary case’ exception so as to equal to the Sofa provision that US custody is allowed only until the accused American is charged in court,” the senator said.
RP can’t react hastily
If the inquiry “should prove to be fruitless,” the same committee should then inquire “whether it is necessary to request a renegotiation of the VFA, to the end that the Philippine custody provision should be amended so as to approximate the Japanese custody provision,” she said.
Senator Rodolfo Biazon urged the government not to rush to gain custody of the four accused without carefully studying the implications.
“We have our processes in this country. We can’t just react hastily without studying all of these. Because there are serious implications on the credibility of our justice system, on the credibility of our government in maintaining its sovereignty and in abiding by the provisions of the Visiting Forces Agreement,” he said in a briefing.
The difference between the VFA and the Sofa should be studied, he added.
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez yesterday said the country was stuck with the VFA and the procedures outlined there in handling the criminal case against the four servicemen.
“Let us go through the process; we are not a rogue state that we do not know how to comply with our obligations,” he said, reacting to continuing calls for the government to move aggressively to take custody of the US servicemen.
He said it was enough that the Department of Foreign Affairs had already asked the US government to turn over custody of the accused Americans to the country and it was set to reiterate the request.
Compliance in good faith
“Under international law, when you enter into a treaty, you are supposed to comply in good faith and implement it in good faith unless the situation suddenly changes that you cannot anymore implement it. Then you can ask to either abrogate or renegotiate it,” he said in a telephone interview with the Inquirer.
Gonzalez said Senators Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Richard Gordon -- who pressed for the country to take custody of the American soldiers in view of the Japan experience -- could only be voicing “emotional sentiments.”
“But I cannot be guided by emotional sentiments, I have to follow what the law says … You know they were the ones who ratified this,” he said of the Senate.
Aside from the contentious issues of custody and jurisdiction, the judge trying the case expects another snag to crop up -- where to jail the accused.
Judge Renato Dilag told the Inquirer in a phone interview on Monday the court could not unilaterally decide on a place of detention.
Dilag said Paragraph 10, Article 5 of the Visiting Forces Agreement stated that “both parties may agree on the place where the accused may be detained.”
In Dilag’s interpretation, that provision meant that the prison facility must be approved by the Philippine and the US governments.
“So even if I issue the arrest warrants when I find probable cause to do that, I cannot immediately send them off to a local jail of my court’s choice,” he said. With reports from Armand N. Nocum, Volt Contreras and Tonette Orejas, PDI Central Luzon Desk
===
Hearing sa Subic rape case inisnab ng 4 GI
NAGBABALA ang Department of Justice (DoJ) kaugnay sa hindi pagtupad ng US government na iharap sa pagdinig ng kaso ang apat na sundalong Kano na sangkot sa Subic rape case.
Ipinaliwanag ni Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez na hindi maaaring gamiting delaying tactics ng Estados Unidos ang hindi pagpapadalo sa mga akusadong sundalo upang maubos ang one-year period na itinakda sa Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) nang hindi natatapos ang pagdinig.
Binigyang-diin ni Gonzalez na hindi maaaring antalain ng mga Amerikano ang pag-usad ng kaso upang maubos ang isang taon na panahon para sa pagdinig sa kaso alinsunod sa VFA.
Sa ilalim ang nasabing treaty, kailangang matapos sa loob ng isang taon na paglilitis sa sinumang sundalong Amerikano na maaakusahan sa Pilipinas.
Nilinaw ng Kalihim sa kanyang ipina-dalang memorandum kay Olongapo Chief Prosecutor Prudencio Jalandoni na hindi kasama sa nabanggit na one-year period ang mga panahon na maantala ang paglilitis dahil no-show ang mga Amerikano sa mga araw ng pagdinig.
Arlene Posadas, Journal.com.ph
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