Angry DOJ chief scolds Olongapo prosecutor over Subic Rape Case
SUBIC RAPE CASE
Angry DOJ chief scolds Olongapo prosecutor
By Tonette Orejas, Tarra V. Quismundo - Inquirer
OLONGAPO CITY—Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez has threatened to file insubordination charges against city prosecutor Prudencio Jalandoni for “openly disagreeing” with Gonzalez’s decision to downgrade the charges filed against three of four US Marines accused of raping a Filipina in Subic last year.
Jalandoni said an irate Gonzalez called him by phone on Thursday to tell him of the insubordination charges.
“I told the secretary I had no intention of hurting him or disrespecting him. I was just voicing my opinion as to why I could not accept his resolution,” Jalandoni told the Inquirer by phone on Friday, two days after he resigned from the newly created five-member prosecution panel.
“Even the Supreme Court respects the prerogative of fiscals. We are the first line of defense in the criminal justice system. We can’t deviate from how the law defines the accessories or principals in a crime,” said the University of the Philippines-trained Jalandoni, who has spent at least 13 years as a prosecutor in Olongapo City.
He said Gonzalez should not have designated him to the panel because Gonzalez knew all along that he and Olongapo City Assistant Prosecutor Raymond Viray had found probable cause that Staff Sgt. Chad Brian Carpentier and Lance Corporals Keith Silkwood and Dominic Duplantis conspired with Lance Corporal Daniel Smith to commit rape.
The charges against Carpentier, Silkwood and Duplantes were downgraded by Gonzalez to mere accessories, instead of principals.
In their Dec. 27, 2005 resolution after the preliminary investigation, the two prosecutors said Carpentier, as platoon leader, did not exercise his moral ascendancy over his men especially Smith to stop the alleged abuse inside a moving van.
“Similarly, the other respondents lent moral assistance to Smith not only by their mere presence inside the van but by cheering him to go on. Such encouragement must have emboldened Smith to continue raping the victim despite the latter’s resistance.”
Smith, 21, had told the US Navy’s criminal investigation unit that what took place between him and the woman was “consensual sex.”
But the woman, 22, a native of Zamboanga City, said in her Nov. 3 affidavit that she was forced into it.
The four US Marines are expected to be arraigned next Friday at the Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 139 for their alleged role in the rape.
Makati RTC Judge Benjamin Pozon yesterday set the arraignment of the accused servicemen on April 28.
During the arraignment, the accused would have to enter a plea of either “guilty” or “not guilty” to the charges.
“Considering the VFA (Visiting Forces Agreement) provisions... and the constitutional right of the people to a speedy disposition of cases, the court hereby set the arraignment of the accused on April 28.... US military authorities and the US Embassy are hereby directed by this court to bring the accused before the court on the arraignment,” Pozon ordered in open court yesterday morning, his first time to hear the case.
Angry DOJ chief scolds Olongapo prosecutor
By Tonette Orejas, Tarra V. Quismundo - Inquirer
OLONGAPO CITY—Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez has threatened to file insubordination charges against city prosecutor Prudencio Jalandoni for “openly disagreeing” with Gonzalez’s decision to downgrade the charges filed against three of four US Marines accused of raping a Filipina in Subic last year.
Jalandoni said an irate Gonzalez called him by phone on Thursday to tell him of the insubordination charges.
“I told the secretary I had no intention of hurting him or disrespecting him. I was just voicing my opinion as to why I could not accept his resolution,” Jalandoni told the Inquirer by phone on Friday, two days after he resigned from the newly created five-member prosecution panel.
“Even the Supreme Court respects the prerogative of fiscals. We are the first line of defense in the criminal justice system. We can’t deviate from how the law defines the accessories or principals in a crime,” said the University of the Philippines-trained Jalandoni, who has spent at least 13 years as a prosecutor in Olongapo City.
He said Gonzalez should not have designated him to the panel because Gonzalez knew all along that he and Olongapo City Assistant Prosecutor Raymond Viray had found probable cause that Staff Sgt. Chad Brian Carpentier and Lance Corporals Keith Silkwood and Dominic Duplantis conspired with Lance Corporal Daniel Smith to commit rape.
The charges against Carpentier, Silkwood and Duplantes were downgraded by Gonzalez to mere accessories, instead of principals.
In their Dec. 27, 2005 resolution after the preliminary investigation, the two prosecutors said Carpentier, as platoon leader, did not exercise his moral ascendancy over his men especially Smith to stop the alleged abuse inside a moving van.
“Similarly, the other respondents lent moral assistance to Smith not only by their mere presence inside the van but by cheering him to go on. Such encouragement must have emboldened Smith to continue raping the victim despite the latter’s resistance.”
Smith, 21, had told the US Navy’s criminal investigation unit that what took place between him and the woman was “consensual sex.”
But the woman, 22, a native of Zamboanga City, said in her Nov. 3 affidavit that she was forced into it.
The four US Marines are expected to be arraigned next Friday at the Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 139 for their alleged role in the rape.
Makati RTC Judge Benjamin Pozon yesterday set the arraignment of the accused servicemen on April 28.
During the arraignment, the accused would have to enter a plea of either “guilty” or “not guilty” to the charges.
“Considering the VFA (Visiting Forces Agreement) provisions... and the constitutional right of the people to a speedy disposition of cases, the court hereby set the arraignment of the accused on April 28.... US military authorities and the US Embassy are hereby directed by this court to bring the accused before the court on the arraignment,” Pozon ordered in open court yesterday morning, his first time to hear the case.
posted by OlongapoCity Zambales at
10:28 AM
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