Subic rape: 7 new witnesses surface

ANGELES CITY — Seven more witnesses will be presented at the preliminary investigation of six United States Marines accused of raping a 22-year-old Filipina inside a moving van at the Subic Freeport last Nov. 1.

Lawyer Randy Escolango, who represents Fe Castro, one of three witnesses earlier cited by the Investigation and Intelligence Office of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), said the seven witnesses are expected to testify that they saw the apparently groggy victim being dragged by the six soldiers from the van onto a sidewalk near Subic’s port facilities.

Castro is an investor at Subic, where she is involved in the importation and transshipment business. She and the seven new witnesses were together when they allegedly saw the US Marines dump the victim.

Escolango said the new witnesses were near the sidewalk when the US servicemen emerged from the van and allegedly dumped the victim "like a pig." The area is a short distance away from where the USS Essex, the vessel that transported US military personnel for the joint military exercises, was docked on the night of Nov. 1.

The witnesses, according to Escolango, claimed they saw the Americans run toward the port facilities and board the ship, leaving the victim lying on the sidewalk.

However, Escolango declined to name the new witnesses to ensure their "safety and protection," except for Joseph Khonghun, brother of Subic town Mayor Jeffrey Khonghun, who Castro mentioned in her affidavit as among those who witnessed the incident.

The testimonies of all the witnesses will be presented during the preliminary investigation hearings at the Olongapo City prosecutor’s office on Nov. 23 and 29, Escolango said.

He also lamented Timoteo Soriano Jr.’s retraction of his earlier testimony. Contrary to his original affidavit, Soriano later said he never witnessed the alleged rape in the van he was driving after the Americans told him to drive around the freeport with the victim onboard.

Soriano, an employee of Starways Travel and Tours who drove the blue Starex van with plate number WKF-162 used by the suspects, said in his original sworn statement that he had witnessed "how those US Marines mercilessly raped the girl inside the van. It was really horrible."

He then claimed he was pressured into issuing the statement, which he subsequently retracted.

Escolango said Soriano could be charged as a "principal by indispensable cooperation" in the rape case, and cited Soriano’s "conspiracy or unity of criminal purpose" in the rape. This, the lawyer said, was clearly established in the testimonies of the witnesses and by the victim herself.

Escolango said Soriano should have stopped the van he was driving and called the police for help.

The suspects, as named in the summons, are Staff Sgts. Keith Silkwood, Daniel Smith, Albert Lara, Corey Burris and Chad Carpenter, all members of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit based in Okinawa, Japan. The sixth soldier involved in the case is reportedly Dominic Duplantis, who belongs to the same unit as the other suspects.

The six US servicemen are currently in the custody of the US embassy.

Initial investigation conducted by the SBMA Intelligence and Investigation Office showed that on Nov. 1 at 9 p.m., the victim had gone "barhopping" inside the freeport with her stepsister, an unidentified US serviceman and a certain Garcia.

While inside the Neptune Club and KTV Bar, the victim was befriended by a US Marine who was spending his rest and recreation privileges with other US servicemen.

The suspect allegedly invited the victim to go to another place in the freeport along with four other US Marines. The victim agreed and left her companions inside the bar. She went out with the suspects, and boarded a rented van parked in front of the establishment.

Hours later, witnesses saw the suspects dumping the unconscious victim out of a van along a dimly lit area near the waterfront road.

Responding SBMA security personnel went to the scene and brought the victim to the Law Enforcement Department office.

The victim complained of pains all over her body, including her genitals, and was brought to the James Gordon Memorial Hospital in Olongapo City for medico-legal examination.

Court records show that medico-legal officer Dr. Rolando Marfel Ortiz II conducted the medical examination of the victim prior to the filing of rape charges.

Ortiz said the victim sustained bruises and contusions on several parts of her body and found indications of "probable" penetration of the vaginal wall.