Ursua said the victim decided to come out in the open as part of her healing process and recovery.
Vanessa sought the help of Gabriela and Ursua, who served as the counsel of Subic rape victim “Nicole.”
De Jesus, of Gabriela, said that regardless of Vanessa’s decision not to file a case in court, “exposing the shamelessness and the violent culture among US troops is just as important. As far as the victim is concerned, this is not an isolated case.”
Lessons from Nicole case
Ursua said many other rape victims of American soldiers would not dare come out because of what happened to “Nicole.”
In fact, she said, one of the considerations of Vanessa was the case of “Nicole.” “She saw how the government and the justice system treated Nicole.”
According to the court, “Nicole” was raped by Lance Corporal Daniel Smith on Nov. 1, 2005. The Makati City Regional Trial Court, in early December 2006, convicted Smith, who was in the country as a participant to the Balikatan military exercises.
The judge initially ordered Smith’s incarceration at the Makati City Jail pending his imprisonment at the National Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City. However, on Dec. 29, 2006, he was transferred to a detention facility at the US Embassy in Manila under what is now known as the Romulo-Kenney Agreement.
On Feb. 11, the Supreme Court ruled that the Romulo-Kenney Agreement is not in accordance with the Visiting Forces Agreement. The High Court ordered the transfer of Smith to a detention facility under Philippine jurisdiction. On April 23, however, the Court of Appeals overturned the lower court’s decision acquitting Smith of rape.
Since the reversal of the conviction, the government Solicitor General has asked the Supreme Court to dismiss all cases pertaining to Smith, including the petition questioning the constitutionality of the VFA.
The United States government has long maintained that it would do whatever it can to keep its troops out of the jurisdiction of other governments.
“The government has been consistent about Nicole,” Ursua said. “They did not help her and even took back her initial victory. We cannot blame Vanessa if she won’t file a case against her rapist.”
Abrogate VFA
De Jesus said the latest rape incident only shows that “the abuses [of US troops] will continue as long as the VFA is in effect.”
Ursua reiterated their demand to junk the VFA.
“The VFA has spawned so many problems, from rape to corruption, to human rights abuses. It is high time that the agreement be exposed for what it really is. It is a grossly one-sided pact that undermines our sovereignty and legal system,” said Renato Reyes Jr., secretary general of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan or New Patriotic Alliance).
Reyes, in a statement, also called for the abolition of the Jusmag, describing it as “a permanent US military and intelligence outpost on Philippine soil.”
The head of the Jusmag is the representative of the commander of the US Pacific Command. “The Jusmag has long operated in the country through the cold-war relic that is the Mutual Defense Treaty. It encompasses a broad range of activities including advising the AFP, conducting joint military exercises and facilitating various forms of military assistance,” Reyes said.
De Jesus said they will mark with protests the 10th anniversary of the VFA on May 27. (Bulatlat.com)
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May 15th, 2009 at 10:04 am
[...] A 22-year-old Filipina student has come out to expose her alleged rape by a US Marine inside a Makati City hotel on April 19. But the victim said she won’t press charges, citing the case of “Nicole.” READ THE STORY [...]
May 15th, 2009 at 8:42 pm
Dapat turuan ng "libido management" ang mga sundalong Amerikano. This is outrageous! A "Dirty Harry" who is insensitive to our culture. Its time to review the illegitimate visiting forces agreement and assert our rights and our sovereignty.
May 17th, 2009 at 4:10 am
Give me a break! It’s 3:30am going to a hotel with a stranger. What is she thinking. If she goes to a hotel with a
filipino whom she just met who has money to spend going places such as nice night club and restaurant then something such as this happened, do you think she’ll report it? I don’t think so. This is another one of those let’s settle this out of court.
May 17th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
celso, you comepletely are out of your mind! please read the story again.
May 17th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
even if she went out with anyone for money, which is by the way not the case here, it doesn't mean she cannot cry no! if she gets raped.
the macho in us and the double standard that this society has all taught us to embrace definitely will tell us: if she's in her right mind, she wouldn't go out at that hour.
how cruel.
she was raped.that is the point.
and by the way, what does the government say? nothing relevant of course. the government will again and yet again play deaf: this is the USA they are attacking, no way should we do anything right about it.
our country is being raped over and over since time immemorial. like that is not bad enough, does it really have to be literal too? how many more Filipinas?
May 19th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
The January 1838 edition of the United States Democratic Review, in an article regarding the Supreme Court. "This collegiate tempest in a teapot might serve for the lads of the University to moot; but, surely, was unworthy the solemn adjudication attempted for it."
In this case, some rad-fems are lined up with commie rebel types, thinking that anti-usa rape baiting propaganda may help ignite zenophibic nationalistic hatreds and rally some support.
What do they expect to achieve? More support for anti-usa, anti-government, pro-communist, pro-islamic, pro-radical feminist groups? What exactly have any of those groups done for Filippinos, (other than spew hatespeech) compared to the government and USA supported programs?
It is almost funny that Gabriela keeps of finding these alleged rape victem that are whores. Both of the Gabriela girls spent the evening guzzling booze in GoGo bars (brothels?) before they decided to pick up saliors in the wee hours of the morning. Sounds like they were most likely freelancers or outright whores, as are most women in those type bars. No offense to whores intended, I am very sure that there are very fine whores out there, so much so it is absurd for a US sailor to rape anyone. These kids make 10 times filipino wages, and no place to spend it on the ships, no bills to pay, and spend lots of thier money on booze and women whenever they get a rare shore leave. Besides the other sailors would kick thier ass if they did anything stupid that would jeopardize shore leave for the rest. Sailors are the biggest whores of all, and everyone should know that, even filipina girls in bars at 3.30 am, it would be silly to expect otherwise. It is much more logical and reasonable to conclude the incidents were either freelancers extorting additional money or amatuer whores that cry rape afterwards to cover up thier obvious whoredom. In the subic case, the half naked puke drunk whore needed a cover story for the police that found her, in the Makati case, the hysterical whore needed a cover story afer the customer called hotel security to remove her from the room.
April 6th, 2011 at 10:29 am
[...] US Marines took part in the rape of then 22-year-old ‘Nicole’ in Subic, Zambales. In May 2009, ‘Vanessa,’ was raped by a US Marine serviceman involved in the Balikatan [...]
February 3rd, 2012 at 10:09 am
[...] cases of human rights violations, the most controversial of which were the rape cases of Nicole and Vanessa and the murder inside a US military facility in Mindanao of Filipino translator Gregan [...]