3 US sailors beat up taxi driver in Cebu over fare

CEBU CITY - Three American sailors from a visiting US Navy ship beat up a taxi driver during a misunderstanding over their fare and will be investigated by Philippine police, officials said yesterday.

The three servicemen were from the USS Blue Ridge, the flagship of the US Seventh Fleet, which began a port visit to the province of Cebu last Sunday.

Elmer Cato, spokesman for the presidential commission overseeing US military visits to the country, said the US servicemen hired the taxi driver to tour them around Cebu but later had an argument with the driver over the fare.

The three allegedly beat up the driver, Cato said. A taxi window was smashed in the commotion, he said.

Cato, who met with USS Blue Ridge officials, said the superiors of the three servicemen "apologized profusely" for the incident and promised to make the sailors available for any police investigation and pay damages if needed.

The driver, Marcelo Batistil, told reporters the three servicemen refused to pay an agreed amount after their tour and boarded another taxi. He said he chased the three and blocked the other taxi to collect the money.

Batistil said the three servicemen then alighted and hit him.

Protesters, denouncing the manhandling of Batistil, marched to a pier near the docked US ship and demanded that the Americans leave.

The protesters also attempted to enter a restaurant where some American sailors were eating but were stopped by riot policemen, police said.

The visit of the USS Blue Ridge followed a month-long joint military exercise involving thousands of American and Filipino troops, the first in five years.

In Manila, US Embassy press attaché Tom Skipper said US Navy authorities have been closely coordinating with Philippine police to investigate the incident.

"It appears they were off duty, so they would be subjected to Philippine laws. We still have to find out from the report of the Navy," the US official said.

Skipper noted the provisions of the Visiting Forces Agreement would have to be looked into to determine if the three can be prosecuted under Philippine laws. The VFA permits port calls by US ships and large-scale military exercises between US and Filipino soldiers.

Earlier, officials of both countries said should any of the officers and enlisted men screw up while shopping, sightseeing or engaging in any unofficial activities here, they are to answer for it in Philippine courts.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) clarified the officers and crew of the visiting US Navy ships while on liberty are not considered on official duty and are therefore not immune from the host country's laws.

DFA assistant secretary for American affairs Clemencio Montesa cited a March 2, 1998 letter of US Ambassador Thomas Hubbard to the department, explaining the definitive US government position on the issue.

In his letter, which was attached to the VFA, Hubbard reiterated his previous representations that "US personnel on leave, liberty or pass and who are in the Philippines in connection with activities approved by the Philippine government will be considered to be in a non-official duty status, although they will remain under coverage of the agreement."

The USS Blue Ridge, which was on its second visit to the country, first docked at Pier 15 at Manila's South Harbor last July for a four-day port visit. It has about 100 Filipino-Americans among its crew.

The ship, which used to operate out of the former Subic naval base in Zambales, was the first US Navy vessel to visit the country after the VFA was approved by the Senate in May last year.