Reader's Comments

Reader's Comments
Well, as mamma always said, don't cut off your nose to spite your face. From all reports it appears this was a case of 2 adults (22 years old each, at least) that had both had a few too many drinks, on their own decision. No case of underage or struggle or battery being brought.
So what is to be gained by pursuing the prosecution? Already there is no liberty for sailors as a result of this, costing the local economy millions. Justice has already been served; the sailors are under extreme punishment, it can be assured they will not return.

So what is the desired outcome, that no other ship's crews come ashore either (which is what is happening now).

Where is the wisdom, so many are SUFFERING loss and loss of income for the one drunk 22 year old (willing or not)?

The only people who agree with this are the politicians and others in judicial roles trying to get ahead (who will ultimately lose), not the poor vendors and hotels, and so forth who are losing money every day until this is forgotten (which could be years). Makes no sense. The case is very weak, at best, why ruin all these other’s lives? What is to gain?

The next step, if this is to be pursued, is to change the second language, possibly to Japanese? Or at least Korean? Or both? Start learning the new alphabets.

Name Withheld


It's too bad that I can't participate in these
> postings. However, I just had to respond to these
> because this is really very intriguing to me.
>
>>From some of the postings, I can almost tell that some
> participants are americanized and some are not
> (obviously). For those that think that the girl is in
> the wrong or "asking for it", let me just say that
> here in America it has been a topic. There's even
> commercials on TV that a girl wearing a mini-skirt or
> provocative outfit is not a reason to be raped. If
> Americans believe that to be true, then sitting on
> someone's lap is no different. Perhaps, as Filipinos,
> we even feel more safer doing things that we would not
> normally do to our own countrymen because we feel that
> Americans are more liberated and more understanding on
> certain flirting.
>
> And for those that posted with more conservatism in
> their mind, going out at night is dangerour not only
> for females but also for males. However, the same
> reasoning applies. A female going out late at night
> having fun or looking for fun is not a reason to be
> raped. We know that we have to protect ourselves at
> all times (like in boxing) but this is not enough
> sometimes. "No means NO"...is the key. Human nature,
> it's hard to be rejected and some do react harshly to
> this rejection. If this is the case of the female,
> then there's no excuse for what the marines did.
>
> People join the military because they want to protect
> and serve their own country. Having "unwelcome" sex
> in another country is far beyond protecting and
> serving their own country.
>
> I agree with the one person who implied that the
> Marines are innocent until proven guilty. Again, this
> notion also applies to the female who is on the other
> side of the coin. Let us not judge the victim if
> we're not to judge the perpetrators.
>
> -Batang Gapo
>