Philippines to seek agreement with US over custody of US marines accused of rape

The Philippines said Monday it cannot ask the US government to hand over the six US marines accused of raping a 22-year-old Filipino woman early this month, but will seek an agreement with the US side to solve the issue.

Philippine Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Zosimo Paredes said that the government can arrange for a bilateral agreement with the United States regarding custody of the suspects before a warrant of arrest is issued by a Filipino court.

"Considering that they will agree that it is an extraordinary case. Any disagreement regarding custody shall be resolved at the diplomatic level. So it has to be bilateral," said Paredes, who is executive director of the US-Filipino Visiting Forces Agreement Committee (VFACOM), which is tasked to cope with cases of alleged offenses by US servicemen visiting the Philippines.

According to the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) signed by the United States and the Philippines in 1999, cases considered extraordinary include heinous crimes such as rape, offenses punishable under the Dangerous Drug Act, and offenses punishable under the Child Abuse Law.

But Paredes said that the US authorities may transfer the soldiers to any US military facility abroad to start serving their sentences if they are found guilty by a US court martial.

"The provision of VFA is clear. Custody shall immediately reside with the US military if they so request. So we can't do anything about it," he said.

The US embassy in Manila said the US military is making a separate investigation into the case.

The six US marines were accused by a Filipino young woman of raping early this month at the former US navy base in Subic Bay. The marines, who are reportedly staying in the US embassy in Manila, have been subpoenaed by a Filipino prosecutor to appear later this month.

Source: Xinhua