Roundup: Trial of rape case involving U.S. marines in Philippines comes into impasse

The lingering trial of four U.S. marines accused of raping a Filipina woman in November 2005 came into an impasse this week as the complainant asked for a change of government-appointed prosecutors in the case, accusing them of not doing their job well.

This took place two months before the deadline for the judicial authorities to complete all the procedures making a judgment on the case, or the case will be declared automatically dead, according to a U.S.-Philippine agreement on visiting forces.

Meanwhile, the mother of the complainant told the Philippine media that the leading prosecutor handling the rape case has asked for settling the case privately. In exchange for a dropping of the case, the complainant could go to the United States, according the complaint's mother.

Local media reports Saturday quoted the complainant's mother as saying that Chief State Prosecutor Emilie Fe de los Santos approached her several months ago and tried to persuade her to agree to a settlement. She said Santos warned that if they refused to settle it privately, they would surely lose the case.

The complainant, publicly known as Nicole, accused four U.S. marines of raping her in a moving mini-bus on November 1, 2005, at the Subic Bay former U.S. navy base.

During a hearing at a court in Makati, Metro Manila, on Monday, the primary suspect in the rape case, Lance Corporal Daniel Smith of the U.S. Marine was questioned by prosecutors in a cross- examination about what happened in the night of November 1, 2005, when he met with Nicole at a bar in Subic Bay.

Smith denied that he raped Nicole and said they had "consensual sex" in a van in which some of his fellow marines were riding.

On Thursday, Nicole and her mother walked out of court because "not enough questions were asked" by prosecutors when they questioned Smith.

On day later, Nicole's mother told the media that Prosecutor Santos has warned that if the complaint did not cut a deal, "then your daughter's case could be used as a trade-off for the Jocelyn Bolante case."

Santos was referring to a former Filipino agriculture secretary who was arrested several months ago in the United States over an invalid visa. The former official was accused by the Filipino opposition of embezzling millions of pesos in fertilizer funds to help President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo run for presidency in 2004. An extradition of Bolante by the U.S. to the Philippines could prove unfavorable for Arroyo.

"She (Santos) told me: 'Ask whatever you want. Write it down.' I told her I couldn't decide for my daughter. That's her life. It's not mine,'" said the complaint's mother.

She added that she was shocked that Santos "would say that especially since she is the head of the panel of prosecutors."

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez immediately dismissed the speculation that the rape case would be used as a trade-off for Bolante case.

"The President (Arroyo) is very disinterested in the (rape) case. She is not at all concerned with Bolante," he said.

Gonzalez also said he has no plans to replace the prosecution team until he can evaluate the request of the complainant. "That's precisely what I don't like. Who are they to judge who's incompetent or not among my prosecutors? I don't like any party dictating this department," he said, adding that replacing the prosecutors could delay the case further.

The court postponed a hearing of the case on Friday to give the government more time to decide on Nicole's request.

Under a Visiting Forces Agreement between the two countries, the Philippines has only one year from the filing of the case last December to hear evidence and give a verdict.

With roughly two months to complete all the procedures to make the judgment, the court must finish testimony by October if hearings are held times a week now.

Source: Xinhua