thedrifter
11-19-05, 01:09 PM
6th US soldier in Subic rape case a mystery
First posted 01:13am (Mla time) Nov 20, 2005
By Volt Contreras, Armand N. Nocum, Tonette Orejas
Inquirer News Service
THE sixth man in the alleged rape of a Filipino woman by a group of American Marines at the Subic freeport is posing a puzzle.
US serviceman Dominic Duplantis was not in the hired van where the alleged rape took place on the night of Nov. 1, according to the sworn statement of the vehicle's Filipino driver, Timoteo Soriano.
The woman herself had named only five men in her complaint – Duplantis was not among them –but listed a John Doe as the sixth person who should be held to answer her accusation.
And in a statement issued on Nov. 3, the US Embassy in Manila initially said there were five Marines involved in the alleged rape and who have remained in the country to face investigation.
The embassy later said it was actually holding six Marines in custody. On Nov. 10, it presented the six men to a Philippine team led by Foreign Undersecretary Zosimo Paredes, who went to the embassy to verify if the accused were indeed still in the country.
Paredes is the executive director of the Presidential Commission on the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFACom).
Asked last Wednesday why the number of the accused had changed, US press attaché Matthew Lussenhop said the Nov. 3 statement was based on "the information we had" at the time.
A lawyer whose opinion was sought by the Inquirer said that unless the complainant could pin down Duplantis as her initial John Doe, she might get "confused" when making an identification of all the accused.
The defense could exploit this as a potential crack in her testimony, the lawyer said.
In an interview on Thursday, Paredes said that as stated in his copy of Soriano's statement, Duplantis was not among the driver's five American passengers on the night of the alleged rape.
"What I know is that there was no Duplantis in the van as identified by the driver. His name suddenly appeared in the subpoenas," Paredes said, adding:
"It's not yet clear what his participation was, but apparently it's not in the activities ... inside the van."
Until the preliminary investigation puts more pieces together, it will remain unclear why Duplantis was included as a respondent in the six subpoenas served on Nov. 8 by the Olongapo City prosecutor's office.
The rest of the summonses were for Daniel Smith, Chad Carpentier, Corey Burris, Albert Lara and Keith Silkwood.
Lara
Through his lawyer Jose Justiniano, Lara has asked the prosecutor's office in Olongapo City to drop him from the rape complaint on grounds that his physical features did not fit the description provided by the woman and the witnesses.
Justiniano, of the law firm Sycip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan, yesterday told the Inquirer that he filed the motion, including Lara's request for a confrontation with Soriano, last Friday.
"I am confident that my client does not fit the descriptions given by the woman or the witnesses," Justiniano said by phone.
The Inquirer asked the lawyer to describe Lara's physical appearance, but he declined to do so.
The woman, Soriano and other witnesses had earlier described the accused as Caucasians and an African-American.
In the five-page motion, Justiniano cited the descriptions of the accused as stated in the sworn statements of the woman, Soriano, Ma. Fe Castro, Neptune Bar and Restaurant security guards Gerald Muyot and Tomas Corpuz Jr., and Subic Bay Freeport security officer Noel Paule.
Soriano
Justiniano said it was "inevitable" that Soriano – whom he described in the motion as the "only witness who appears to be familiar with the six respondents" – would be directed to attend the hearing scheduled on Nov. 23 to personally identify Lara.
"The result of this will determine whether Lara should be dropped from the criminal complaint because at present there is nothing to hold [him] as one of the respondents in this case," Justiniano said.
Through their lawyers, the six Americans had appealed for 10 more days to file their counter-affidavits and a rescheduling of the hearing.
Their appeals were denied by the prosecutor's office on Friday.
Prosecutor Prudencio Jalandoni and First Assistant Prosecutor Raymond Viray have yet to act on Lara's motion.
Gonzalez
In a phone interview with the Inquirer, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez warned Filipinos against going on a "stampede" to condemn the six servicemen, saying they were entitled to equal protection under the law.
But "as much as possible, the law should be tilted to our favor," said Gonzalez, who was recently accused by the rape complainant's chief counsel, Katrina Legarda, of coddling the Americans.
Gonzalez observed that while everyone was entitled to due process, the servicemen appeared to have been "denied" such when the prosecutors of the Department of Justice junked the appeal of the accused to be given 10 more days to file their counter-affidavits.
"We should not be led by our emotions. What's important is we follow the rule of law," he said.
In his regular radio program over dwIZ, Gonzalez said the government was "doing everything to protect our countryman because that is the order of the President ... to protect the dignity of the country."
"That order speaks volumes," he said. But he added that "whether there is a directive of the President or not, we know the procedure-it is not a one-sided thing. Due process speaks of a balance of the situation."
"So, Americano ka man, Negro ka, or whatever you are, you are also entitled to the protection of the law. We do not stampede ourselves based on emotional matters to condemn [the US servicemen]," he said.
Hara-kiri
Gonzalez took offense at the accusation that the government was dealing with the alleged rape with kid gloves.
"What does the Inquirer want, for the GIs to commit hara-kiri?" he said when asked whether President Macapagal-Arroyo's closeness to US President George W. Bush, or her need for US support amid her growing unpopularity at home, would affect efforts to seek justice for the rape complainant.
Gonzalez said the Philippines was determined "not to yield territorial jurisdiction" to the United States as far as the trial of the servicemen was concerned.
But in the matter of custody, Gonzalez said that under the VFA, the United States had "primary custody" of the accused.
He also stepped up his attack on retired Gen. Jose Calimlim, deputy administrator of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, and continued to blame the latter for failing to keep the accused in Philippine custody.
Legarda
At the weekly Kapihan sa Sulo breakfast forum, Gonzalez said he would work for the effective prosecution of the six US Marines, but added that this did not mean he would make up with Legarda.
"She's the one who accused me [of coddling the accused], and her accusation was false. Why should I mend fences with her?" he said.
"I'd be happy to do the things that must be done by the prosecution, with or without Legarda. I'd be happy to support the cause of our country," he added.
Asked whether he thought the case would be resolved within a year, as prescribed by the VFA, Gonzales replied in the affirmative.
"Even the one-year prescription period is flexible," he said. "If there are dilatory tactics by the defense lawyers, that can be deducted from the running of the track. The one-year period refers to the judicial proceedings."
He said the judicial proceedings would start with the Americans' arraignment. With a report from Norman Bordadora
Ellie
First posted 01:13am (Mla time) Nov 20, 2005
By Volt Contreras, Armand N. Nocum, Tonette Orejas
Inquirer News Service
THE sixth man in the alleged rape of a Filipino woman by a group of American Marines at the Subic freeport is posing a puzzle.
US serviceman Dominic Duplantis was not in the hired van where the alleged rape took place on the night of Nov. 1, according to the sworn statement of the vehicle's Filipino driver, Timoteo Soriano.
The woman herself had named only five men in her complaint – Duplantis was not among them –but listed a John Doe as the sixth person who should be held to answer her accusation.
And in a statement issued on Nov. 3, the US Embassy in Manila initially said there were five Marines involved in the alleged rape and who have remained in the country to face investigation.
The embassy later said it was actually holding six Marines in custody. On Nov. 10, it presented the six men to a Philippine team led by Foreign Undersecretary Zosimo Paredes, who went to the embassy to verify if the accused were indeed still in the country.
Paredes is the executive director of the Presidential Commission on the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFACom).
Asked last Wednesday why the number of the accused had changed, US press attaché Matthew Lussenhop said the Nov. 3 statement was based on "the information we had" at the time.
A lawyer whose opinion was sought by the Inquirer said that unless the complainant could pin down Duplantis as her initial John Doe, she might get "confused" when making an identification of all the accused.
The defense could exploit this as a potential crack in her testimony, the lawyer said.
In an interview on Thursday, Paredes said that as stated in his copy of Soriano's statement, Duplantis was not among the driver's five American passengers on the night of the alleged rape.
"What I know is that there was no Duplantis in the van as identified by the driver. His name suddenly appeared in the subpoenas," Paredes said, adding:
"It's not yet clear what his participation was, but apparently it's not in the activities ... inside the van."
Until the preliminary investigation puts more pieces together, it will remain unclear why Duplantis was included as a respondent in the six subpoenas served on Nov. 8 by the Olongapo City prosecutor's office.
The rest of the summonses were for Daniel Smith, Chad Carpentier, Corey Burris, Albert Lara and Keith Silkwood.
Lara
Through his lawyer Jose Justiniano, Lara has asked the prosecutor's office in Olongapo City to drop him from the rape complaint on grounds that his physical features did not fit the description provided by the woman and the witnesses.
Justiniano, of the law firm Sycip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan, yesterday told the Inquirer that he filed the motion, including Lara's request for a confrontation with Soriano, last Friday.
"I am confident that my client does not fit the descriptions given by the woman or the witnesses," Justiniano said by phone.
The Inquirer asked the lawyer to describe Lara's physical appearance, but he declined to do so.
The woman, Soriano and other witnesses had earlier described the accused as Caucasians and an African-American.
In the five-page motion, Justiniano cited the descriptions of the accused as stated in the sworn statements of the woman, Soriano, Ma. Fe Castro, Neptune Bar and Restaurant security guards Gerald Muyot and Tomas Corpuz Jr., and Subic Bay Freeport security officer Noel Paule.
Soriano
Justiniano said it was "inevitable" that Soriano – whom he described in the motion as the "only witness who appears to be familiar with the six respondents" – would be directed to attend the hearing scheduled on Nov. 23 to personally identify Lara.
"The result of this will determine whether Lara should be dropped from the criminal complaint because at present there is nothing to hold [him] as one of the respondents in this case," Justiniano said.
Through their lawyers, the six Americans had appealed for 10 more days to file their counter-affidavits and a rescheduling of the hearing.
Their appeals were denied by the prosecutor's office on Friday.
Prosecutor Prudencio Jalandoni and First Assistant Prosecutor Raymond Viray have yet to act on Lara's motion.
Gonzalez
In a phone interview with the Inquirer, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez warned Filipinos against going on a "stampede" to condemn the six servicemen, saying they were entitled to equal protection under the law.
But "as much as possible, the law should be tilted to our favor," said Gonzalez, who was recently accused by the rape complainant's chief counsel, Katrina Legarda, of coddling the Americans.
Gonzalez observed that while everyone was entitled to due process, the servicemen appeared to have been "denied" such when the prosecutors of the Department of Justice junked the appeal of the accused to be given 10 more days to file their counter-affidavits.
"We should not be led by our emotions. What's important is we follow the rule of law," he said.
In his regular radio program over dwIZ, Gonzalez said the government was "doing everything to protect our countryman because that is the order of the President ... to protect the dignity of the country."
"That order speaks volumes," he said. But he added that "whether there is a directive of the President or not, we know the procedure-it is not a one-sided thing. Due process speaks of a balance of the situation."
"So, Americano ka man, Negro ka, or whatever you are, you are also entitled to the protection of the law. We do not stampede ourselves based on emotional matters to condemn [the US servicemen]," he said.
Hara-kiri
Gonzalez took offense at the accusation that the government was dealing with the alleged rape with kid gloves.
"What does the Inquirer want, for the GIs to commit hara-kiri?" he said when asked whether President Macapagal-Arroyo's closeness to US President George W. Bush, or her need for US support amid her growing unpopularity at home, would affect efforts to seek justice for the rape complainant.
Gonzalez said the Philippines was determined "not to yield territorial jurisdiction" to the United States as far as the trial of the servicemen was concerned.
But in the matter of custody, Gonzalez said that under the VFA, the United States had "primary custody" of the accused.
He also stepped up his attack on retired Gen. Jose Calimlim, deputy administrator of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, and continued to blame the latter for failing to keep the accused in Philippine custody.
Legarda
At the weekly Kapihan sa Sulo breakfast forum, Gonzalez said he would work for the effective prosecution of the six US Marines, but added that this did not mean he would make up with Legarda.
"She's the one who accused me [of coddling the accused], and her accusation was false. Why should I mend fences with her?" he said.
"I'd be happy to do the things that must be done by the prosecution, with or without Legarda. I'd be happy to support the cause of our country," he added.
Asked whether he thought the case would be resolved within a year, as prescribed by the VFA, Gonzales replied in the affirmative.
"Even the one-year prescription period is flexible," he said. "If there are dilatory tactics by the defense lawyers, that can be deducted from the running of the track. The one-year period refers to the judicial proceedings."
He said the judicial proceedings would start with the Americans' arraignment. With a report from Norman Bordadora
Ellie