3 Filipinos added to ‘Nicole’ ordeal, says witness
Volt Contreras Tarra Quismundo - Inquirer
BEFORE “NICOLE” could formally lodge a rape complaint against a group of US Marines, she encountered three Filipinos who added to her ordeal -- a woman doctor who sneered at her story, an eyewitness who initially denied having seen her, and a certain Ben Natividad who asked her to “just accept payment” for her ordeal.
Anna Liza Franco, stepsister of the complainant in the Subic rape case, gave this testimony when she returned to the witness stand yesterday and delivered an outburst apparently aimed at the four accused American Marines.
“Why can’t you look me straight in the eye? (Bakit di kayo makatingin ng straight?)” Franco, 25, said at one point.
She did not say who she meant, but she was casting dagger looks in the direction of Lance Corporals Daniel Smith, Keith Silkwood, Dominic Duplantis and Staff Sgt. Chad Carpentier, the four accused in the alleged rape inside a van at Subic Bay on Nov. 1.
Franco’s remark was not a response to a question, but sounded more like an expression of rage during her direct examination by Nicole’s lawyer, Evalyn Ursua.
Franco had wept when she first testified on Friday, prompting Makati City Judge Benjamin Pozon to cut the proceedings short.
Her narration yesterday mainly dwelled on how her sister’s case reached the desk of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority’s Intelligence and Investigation Office (IIO) and later involved agents of the US Naval Criminal Investigation Service.
The 15th witness for the prosecution was the first to describe Nicole’s body after the alleged rape: Franco recalled seeing Nicole with “contusions” on one arm and on her knees when she changed clothes at the IIO.
Franco recounted that after she and Nicole gave statements at the IIO, “someone approached us” inside one of the rooms on the evening of Nov. 2 and told them to “just accept payment (magpabayad na lang daw po).”
Fear for her life
“I did not agree,” Franco said, describing the person as a heavily built Filipino male.
Judge Pozon asked her to name the man and when Franco hesitated, Ursua asked to approach the bench. Lawyers from both panels spent about a minute conferring with the judge.
After the huddle, Franco said it was a “Ben Natividad.” She could not recall if the man spoke of an exact amount and what precisely the “payment” was for.
Asked by Ursua why she was initially reluctant to identify Natividad in court, Franco said she was afraid for her life.
In contrast to her testimony on Natividad, Franco was livid when she recounted her first meeting with Timoteo Soriano, the driver of the hired van where Smith allegedly raped Nicole.
Franco said that Soriano at first claimed in her and Nicole’s presence that Nicole was not the woman taken on the van by his American customers on the night of Nov. 1.
Pity for Nicole
She said the driver only “admitted that it was my sister” after hearing Maria Fe Castro, another eyewitness, assert that she saw Nicole being carried “like a pig” from Soriano’s van.
Franco said Soriano then admitted “that it was my sister and said he took pity [on her] for what the Americans did to her…”
It was at this point that Franco turned to the accused Americans, her outburst causing a brief break in the hearing.
Calming down, she continued: “(Soriano) said he will help us by giving a voluntary statement. Then he went out of the room.”
Soriano did give a statement at the IIO but recanted later, claiming he had been coerced into signing his original statement which spoke of “gang rape.”
Franco sounded bitter right from the start of her testimony yesterday.
She recalled how Nicole underwent a urine test at the James Gordon Hospital in Olongapo City at around 3 a.m., or shortly after the supposed rape. Her sister was in a state of shock and Franco said it was she who accomplished the forms for Nicole.
She said a certain Dr. Estera, upon learning Nicole was to be tested in connection with a rape incident, snapped at her patient: “Na-rape ka? Baka ginusto mo? (So you were raped? Maybe you wanted it?)”
Nicole in hysterics
When Nicole heard this, she answered back, “Why would I want that?” Franco said. “Then (Nicole) became hysterical.”
As in her testimony on Natividad, Franco only identified Estera by name when Judge Pozon asked her.
Nicole repeatedly cried out in pain while Estera examined her “but the doctor just went on ignoring her,” Franco said in Filipino.
Franco also resented how the hospital attended to a pregnant woman first, despite the fact that Nicole got there well ahead of the woman.
“What happened to us is worse than the death of a loved one. This is a nightmare,” Franco said. “We lost many opportunities. I could have found a job by now. We will grow old with this nightmare and it will not go away.”
She said one of their younger siblings had been forced to stop schooling because “we all had to give priority to (Nicole).”
Franco said it was only on the afternoon of Nov. 3 that Nicole was able to file a formal complaint before the Olongapo City prosecutors office. By then, SBMA Administrator Armand Areza had provided the sisters with a safehouse.
Unflinching witness
Franco did not flinch as the defense panel tried to break her testimony, which the prosecution deemed crucial in proving that Nicole was too drunk to have consented to sex.
Nicole has said that she was drunk when Smith raped her at the back of the Kia Starex van. The Marine had claimed he had consensual sex with Nicole.
Franco aimed a fierce glare at defense lawyer Jose Justiniano as he fired one question after another in a bid to show that the sisters made no effort to refuse the drinks that their American companion, US Navy Petty Officer Christopher Mills, offered them before the alleged rape occurred.
Barrage of questions
Justiniano also questioned Franco about the gaps between the drinks they consumed, as he tried to establish that the sisters had enough time between drinks to diffuse the alcohol content in their bodies and keep them from getting too drunk.
“Did you not suggest to Mills to order drinks that will not make you drunk?” Justiniano asked. Franco said no.
“Did you not tell Mills not to order anymore because you were already dizzy? Did you not suggest to him to just order another type of drink that will not make you drunk? Did you not tell Mills that you were dizzy and that you should go back to the hotel?” the lawyer said.
“Mills was the one who went to the bar … How can I talk to Mills when he was going around the bar?” Franco replied.
By its questioning, the defense apparently sought to portray that Nicole was sober enough to have consented to sex with Smith, disputing the prosecution line that she was too drunk to have agreed to sex. But Ursua said the defense tactics established nothing.
Franco resumes her testimony today.
The Inquirer sought Natividad’s reaction but he refused to take five calls after he was told in a text message what the Inquirer wanted to ask him about.
SBMA Chair Feliciano Salonga said Natividad was “referring the issue to his father-in-law, the lawyer Oliver Lozano.”
Salonga said he could not recall if Natividad was part of the SBMA group he had directed to assist the rape victim. He said his instruction to the group was to provide her with medical and legal help, and a house to keep her away from the “usiseros (kibitzers).”
Salonga said Natividad was a consultant at the SBMA, not his “senior executive assistant,” as Natividad had previously identified himself to the Inquirer.
Salonga also said he did not remember his office being asked to facilitate any offers of money for Nicole.
He said that “in fairness to the US Navy,” American authorities had told him “that they will abide by the VFA (Visiting Forces Agreement).” With a report from Tonette Orejeas, Central Luzon Desk
BEFORE “NICOLE” could formally lodge a rape complaint against a group of US Marines, she encountered three Filipinos who added to her ordeal -- a woman doctor who sneered at her story, an eyewitness who initially denied having seen her, and a certain Ben Natividad who asked her to “just accept payment” for her ordeal.
Anna Liza Franco, stepsister of the complainant in the Subic rape case, gave this testimony when she returned to the witness stand yesterday and delivered an outburst apparently aimed at the four accused American Marines.
“Why can’t you look me straight in the eye? (Bakit di kayo makatingin ng straight?)” Franco, 25, said at one point.
She did not say who she meant, but she was casting dagger looks in the direction of Lance Corporals Daniel Smith, Keith Silkwood, Dominic Duplantis and Staff Sgt. Chad Carpentier, the four accused in the alleged rape inside a van at Subic Bay on Nov. 1.
Franco’s remark was not a response to a question, but sounded more like an expression of rage during her direct examination by Nicole’s lawyer, Evalyn Ursua.
Franco had wept when she first testified on Friday, prompting Makati City Judge Benjamin Pozon to cut the proceedings short.
Her narration yesterday mainly dwelled on how her sister’s case reached the desk of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority’s Intelligence and Investigation Office (IIO) and later involved agents of the US Naval Criminal Investigation Service.
The 15th witness for the prosecution was the first to describe Nicole’s body after the alleged rape: Franco recalled seeing Nicole with “contusions” on one arm and on her knees when she changed clothes at the IIO.
Franco recounted that after she and Nicole gave statements at the IIO, “someone approached us” inside one of the rooms on the evening of Nov. 2 and told them to “just accept payment (magpabayad na lang daw po).”
Fear for her life
“I did not agree,” Franco said, describing the person as a heavily built Filipino male.
Judge Pozon asked her to name the man and when Franco hesitated, Ursua asked to approach the bench. Lawyers from both panels spent about a minute conferring with the judge.
After the huddle, Franco said it was a “Ben Natividad.” She could not recall if the man spoke of an exact amount and what precisely the “payment” was for.
Asked by Ursua why she was initially reluctant to identify Natividad in court, Franco said she was afraid for her life.
In contrast to her testimony on Natividad, Franco was livid when she recounted her first meeting with Timoteo Soriano, the driver of the hired van where Smith allegedly raped Nicole.
Franco said that Soriano at first claimed in her and Nicole’s presence that Nicole was not the woman taken on the van by his American customers on the night of Nov. 1.
Pity for Nicole
She said the driver only “admitted that it was my sister” after hearing Maria Fe Castro, another eyewitness, assert that she saw Nicole being carried “like a pig” from Soriano’s van.
Franco said Soriano then admitted “that it was my sister and said he took pity [on her] for what the Americans did to her…”
It was at this point that Franco turned to the accused Americans, her outburst causing a brief break in the hearing.
Calming down, she continued: “(Soriano) said he will help us by giving a voluntary statement. Then he went out of the room.”
Soriano did give a statement at the IIO but recanted later, claiming he had been coerced into signing his original statement which spoke of “gang rape.”
Franco sounded bitter right from the start of her testimony yesterday.
She recalled how Nicole underwent a urine test at the James Gordon Hospital in Olongapo City at around 3 a.m., or shortly after the supposed rape. Her sister was in a state of shock and Franco said it was she who accomplished the forms for Nicole.
She said a certain Dr. Estera, upon learning Nicole was to be tested in connection with a rape incident, snapped at her patient: “Na-rape ka? Baka ginusto mo? (So you were raped? Maybe you wanted it?)”
Nicole in hysterics
When Nicole heard this, she answered back, “Why would I want that?” Franco said. “Then (Nicole) became hysterical.”
As in her testimony on Natividad, Franco only identified Estera by name when Judge Pozon asked her.
Nicole repeatedly cried out in pain while Estera examined her “but the doctor just went on ignoring her,” Franco said in Filipino.
Franco also resented how the hospital attended to a pregnant woman first, despite the fact that Nicole got there well ahead of the woman.
“What happened to us is worse than the death of a loved one. This is a nightmare,” Franco said. “We lost many opportunities. I could have found a job by now. We will grow old with this nightmare and it will not go away.”
She said one of their younger siblings had been forced to stop schooling because “we all had to give priority to (Nicole).”
Franco said it was only on the afternoon of Nov. 3 that Nicole was able to file a formal complaint before the Olongapo City prosecutors office. By then, SBMA Administrator Armand Areza had provided the sisters with a safehouse.
Unflinching witness
Franco did not flinch as the defense panel tried to break her testimony, which the prosecution deemed crucial in proving that Nicole was too drunk to have consented to sex.
Nicole has said that she was drunk when Smith raped her at the back of the Kia Starex van. The Marine had claimed he had consensual sex with Nicole.
Franco aimed a fierce glare at defense lawyer Jose Justiniano as he fired one question after another in a bid to show that the sisters made no effort to refuse the drinks that their American companion, US Navy Petty Officer Christopher Mills, offered them before the alleged rape occurred.
Barrage of questions
Justiniano also questioned Franco about the gaps between the drinks they consumed, as he tried to establish that the sisters had enough time between drinks to diffuse the alcohol content in their bodies and keep them from getting too drunk.
“Did you not suggest to Mills to order drinks that will not make you drunk?” Justiniano asked. Franco said no.
“Did you not tell Mills not to order anymore because you were already dizzy? Did you not suggest to him to just order another type of drink that will not make you drunk? Did you not tell Mills that you were dizzy and that you should go back to the hotel?” the lawyer said.
“Mills was the one who went to the bar … How can I talk to Mills when he was going around the bar?” Franco replied.
By its questioning, the defense apparently sought to portray that Nicole was sober enough to have consented to sex with Smith, disputing the prosecution line that she was too drunk to have agreed to sex. But Ursua said the defense tactics established nothing.
Franco resumes her testimony today.
The Inquirer sought Natividad’s reaction but he refused to take five calls after he was told in a text message what the Inquirer wanted to ask him about.
SBMA Chair Feliciano Salonga said Natividad was “referring the issue to his father-in-law, the lawyer Oliver Lozano.”
Salonga said he could not recall if Natividad was part of the SBMA group he had directed to assist the rape victim. He said his instruction to the group was to provide her with medical and legal help, and a house to keep her away from the “usiseros (kibitzers).”
Salonga said Natividad was a consultant at the SBMA, not his “senior executive assistant,” as Natividad had previously identified himself to the Inquirer.
Salonga also said he did not remember his office being asked to facilitate any offers of money for Nicole.
He said that “in fairness to the US Navy,” American authorities had told him “that they will abide by the VFA (Visiting Forces Agreement).” With a report from Tonette Orejeas, Central Luzon Desk
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