The Subic Rape Case

The recent decision of the Court of Appeals Special 11th Division overturning Makati Regional Trial Court Judge Benjamin Pozon’s December 2006 conviction of Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith for rape of a Filipino woman drew all kinds of opinions. Some people found it surprising that the all-female justices of this division rendered a harsh judgment on Nicole, mincing no words in describing her indecorous behavior. They felt the lady justices should have gone a little soft on their kabaro, but then, others opined that these justices were schooled in another era when women were more circumspect in their behavior. The question on some minds is, would a CA division composed of all-male jurists have been more sympathetic to her plight? My guess is that they would have arrived at the same verdict but might have stated it, ironically enough, in a less brutal manner.

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But harsh as the female justices’ verdict was, few would dare assert that they could have been influenced by anything but the merits of the case. The reason is that Justices Monina Zenarosa, the ponente, Remedios Fernando and Myrna Dimaranan-Vidal have chalked up decades of experience not only in the judiciary but also, in Fernando’s case, in the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and Commission on Elections (Comelec), and they would not be easily swayed especially in such a controversial and high-profile case.

By the way, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. was quoted as opining that he didn’t think it was a rape case. I share the same opinion, although I felt that Smith should have been punished for the terrible way Nicole was dumped on a sidewalk.

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There’s a rumor that in the nearly two and a half years from Smith’s conviction to his acquittal, the case was kicked around like a football within the CA because no division wanted it. A court source shot down this rumor and explained that the normal procedure is for a division to take hold of a case and gather all the records from the lower court, after which it’s raffled off to another division for the writing of a decision. The reason the Smith case languished was that when it landed first in the division chaired by Justice Regalado Maambong, a lady jurist asked for two whole months to study it, and then the third member who wrote the original decision retired. There was some controversy over the leak of the decision, followed by Maambong’s departure for Israel. All these led to a re-raffling of the case, which landed in the all-female justices’ division.

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The lady justices assert that they were not influenced by Nicole’s recantation, but as one pundit pointed out, that would be quite unnatural. Lawyers readily acknowledged that this weakened the case. Nicole had been vacillating a lot between taking a tough stand against the American serviceman and going easy long before she recanted. Evidently the tremendous pressure from the militants for her to carry the flag up the hill and play heroine to the anti-American elements caused Nicole to cave in—only to develop weak knees later and surrender to the allure of greener pastures. What she underwent was not unlike the medieval torture of quartering.

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Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales is not wont to accept awards, but when he was bestowed the Fr. Neri Satur Award for environmental heroism last Friday at award ceremonies organized by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Global Warming and Climate Change, in coordination with the Presidential Task Force on Climate Change and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, it was one award he couldn’t refuse. This was because he had ordained Father Satur who became one of his parish priests when he was the bishop of Bukidnon. In accepting the award Rosales, represented by Msgr. Nestor Cerbo, rector of the Manila Cathedral, called Father Satur a “patriot and martyr” who was only 2 ½ years in service when he offered his life in defense of God’s forest. Rosales did a book on the priest as a model of outstanding community and religious leadership.

Also awarded during the Earth Week ceremonies was the very laudable “Adopt-a-Mountain Program” of the Catholic bishops, received in their name by Bishop Julio Labayen.

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Philippine tourism remains one of the bright spots despite the global crisis, and the new Tourism Act passed by Congress should provide a further boost as more hotels and resorts are given bigger incentives. Cecile Alvarez and I recently featured on our dzRH radio program Benito Bengzon Jr., director for tourism coordination and Team Japan head, who has gained added responsibility over the Middle East. Bengzon, who joined the Department of Tourism in 1986 and was tourism attaché in Japan for seven years, said a 3.5 percent increase in tourist arrivals is projected this year over last year’s 3.14 million despite the global crisis. The East Asian market of Korea and Japan, plus the US, continue to be the core strength of our tourism program, boosted by Russian arrivals that increased by 34 percent and United Arab Emirates arrivals by 28 percent. Bengzon stressed that aggressive marketing would continue, citing the DOT’s participation in the biggest travel fair in the Middle East this July and in a big health tourism conference in Dubai. While there could still be a decrease in arrivals in 2009, he said this would be compensated for by heavier tourist spending on shopping and the DOT’s close partnership with local government units in promoting tourism around the country. Orchids to the DOT.

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Retrouvaille, the Catholic international ministry devoted to helping those with troubled marriages will conduct another healing weekend this Friday, May 1 at 6 p.m. to May 3, 5 p.m. with Fr. Dave Clay at the Mother of Mercy Spiritual Center on SVD Road, Tagaytay City. For particulars, call Neomi at 681-5746 or 0916-395-4642, or Inday at 938-9719 or 0916-443-8346, or Ruby at 931-8413 or 0918-802-2483. All calls confidential.