Mauled cabbie to donate any settlement to Church

CEBU CITY - Any settlement money on the mauling of Cebu City taxi driver Marcelo Batestil will go to the Church, his lawyer said yesterday.

Batestil forgave and withdrew the case he filed against US servicemen Michael Keyes, John Lowery and Shanon Towers after they apologized to him in court the other day, prompting Municipal Trial Court Judge Rosabella Tormis to dismiss the case.

The three American sailors mauled Batestil after the taxi driver tried to insist on collecting a P900 fare he said they owed. The three refused to pay because Batestil did not use his taxi meter.

Batestil's lawyer Gerardo Carillo denied reports his client asked for a $5,000 settlement from the Americans.

But he said that if the Americans decide to pursue the offer, Batestil asked him to donate the money for the thanksgiving celebration of the beatification of Visayan martyr Pedro Calungsod.

Josel Ignacio, a special assistant to the Visiting Forces Agreement Commission, said that despite Batestil's withdrawal of the charges, the test case for the VFA was not a futile exercise.

"They have presented themselves for arraignment. It shows the US government respects our jurisdiction over the case," he said.

The dismissal of the case was immediately criticized by cause-oriented groups who called on the junking of the VFA to assure that similar incidents will not happen in the future. -