A 'sacrificial lamb' for a military pact
By Stella Gonzales
MANILA - Nicole, the Filipina who accused a United States serviceman of raping
her in 2005, had become a rallying point for a wide coalition of left-wing
organizations in the Philippines opposed to a controversial military pact which
governs the conduct of US troops in the country.
Now a new affidavit from her, which effectively clears Smith, has led observers
to accuse the US government of using her as a pawn to dampen widespread public
resentment towards the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and the presence of US
troops in the country.
Joms Salvador, spokesperson of the women's group Gabriela, told Inter Press
Service it was suspicious that Nicole's recantation
was released after US President Barack Obama placed a phone call to President
Gloria Arroyo on March 14, during which the two leaders reportedly discussed
various matters, including the VFA.
"It was too smoothly executed ... one cannot believe that [Obama's] call had
nothing to do with what happened," Salvador said.
Renato Reyes Jr, secretary general of the leftist political coalition Bagong
Alyansang Makabayan (New Patriotic Alliance) or Bayan, said Nicole's
recantation was "part of a grand design to preserve the VFA at all costs. She
was a sacrificial lamb in order to preserve US interests."
He said the Philippine and US governments believed declaring Smith innocent
"will weaken the people's case against the VFA". However, he added that Bayan
would continue to work for the abrogation of the VFA, saying the campaign was
now "more urgent given that a Smith acquittal is in the works''.
Smith was participating in joint military exercises with local troops at the
time of the incident, and was sentenced by a trial court in 2006 to 40 years in
prison.
The VFA was the legal basis for the annual US-Philippine war game "Balikatan"
that brought Smith to the Philippines in the first place. He was part of
American forces assisting Philippine troops in an escalating war against
Islamic insurgents on the southern island of Mindanao.
Smith is currently being held - as agreed by Philippine and American
authorities - in the US Embassy compound in Manila, despite a high court ruling
last month that he must be transferred to a Philippine-run facility.
Nicole's former lawyer, Evalyn Ursua, told the Los Angeles Times that Smith was
being given the "soft treatment" at the embassy. "The American Embassy is not a
jail. He would have an air-conditioned room, and I suppose he would be free to
go around the embassy, unlike in a Philippine jail."
The fact that Smith has not been turned over the Philippine authorities has
been used as a springboard for groups and individuals, including Nicole, to
question the constitutionality of the VFA.
"The continuing detention of convicted rapist Lance Corporal Daniel Smith at
the US Embassy ... is clear proof of the grossly unequal character of the
Visiting Forces Agreement or VFA," Bayan said in a statement on Tuesday.
Philippine Senator Joker Arroyo called on Arroyo in February to back Senate
moves led by Senator Francis Pangilinan to scrap the VFA, saying it created
"degrading inequalities" between American and Filipino jurisdiction rights over
military personnel who have committed crimes.
The VFA agreement states that Philippine authorities have jurisdiction over US
military personnel who commit crimes here, unless they are crimes under US
military law or against other US service members. However, the agreement also
says the US military can retain custody of servicemen "until completion of all
judicial proceedings". Smith is appealing his rape conviction.
Nicole's recantation comes less than three weeks after the dismissal of another
rape case filed by a Filipina against an American soldier, this time in
Okinawa, Japan.
A US military court dismissed the case against army specialist Ronald Hopstock
over a lack of evidence. It was the second setback for the victim, Hazel (not
her real name), who had previously lost a criminal case she filed before a
Japanese court last year.
Hazel, who was then 21, was working in Japan as a dancer. She said she was
raped by Hopstock inside a hotel in Okinawa. Gabriela had condemned the
decision of the US court martial as an "act of arrogance" by the US government.
The recent sworn statement by Nicole (not her real name) raised doubts whether
Smith had actually raped her and if she might have actually welcomed his sexual
advances.
"My conscience continues to bother me ... [and] I may have in fact been so
friendly and intimate with [him] ... that he was led to believe that I was
amenable to having sex or that we simply just got carried away," her statement
said.
Salvador said it was no secret that throughout the rape case her family had
been receiving settlement offers from several parties, which her mother was
very vocal about.
Nicole has now flown to the US. According to her mother, the 24-year-old wanted
to start a new life with her American boyfriend. US visas are not that easy to
get in the Philippines, making observers wonder when Nicole applied for a visa
and what type was been given to her.
Nicole has also received 100,000 pesos (US$2,000) from Smith, who had been
previously ordered by the trial court to pay the victim a total of 100,000
pesos in compensatory and moral damages.
Women's groups supporting Nicole's case say they do not see her new affidavit
as a defeat.
"Even if she recanted, no one can deny that the trial court's decision [finding
Smith guilty] is a victory not only to the women's movement but to all
Filipinos," said Salvador. "The new developments cannot deny our triumph [in
the rape case]. We were able to show that we can fight."
As if the setbacks on the two rape cases were not enough, another high-profile
sexual abuse case, this time involving a Filipino member of Congress, hit the
headlines on Wednesday. Romeo Jalosjos had been given his release papers after
serving 11 years in prison for raping a minor in 1996.
Jalosjos was sentenced in 1997 to two life terms for two counts of statutory
rape and six counts of acts of lasciviousness. In 2007, his sentence was
commuted by Arroyo to 16 years, a move seen by the president’s critics as
political accommodation.
Last Wednesday, prison officials said Jalosjos had already served 16 years
because he had accumulated "good conduct time allowances". They said Jalosjos
had provided skills programs and legal and medical outreach activities for his
co-inmates.
The Jalosjos case was closely followed by Gabriela. In 2007, the group
questioned the commutation of the child rapist’s sentence and demanded an
inquiry into the executive department’s criteria for "good conduct".
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