Warrants for 4 GIs served this week

Arrest warrants for four US Marines accused of raping a 22-year-old Filipina must be served at the US Embassy within this week, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.

However, DFA spokesman lawyer Gilberto Asuque did not say if the warrants would be immediately served at the embassy compound on Roxas Boulevard in Manila after the DFA receives them from the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The DFA, not the National Bureau of Investigation, would have to serve the arrest warrants because the NBI has no legal "personality" under the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) to do so, he added.

Asuque said the Rules of Court require that the warrants of arrest must be served within 10 days from the time they were issued, or from last Friday.

"It says the head of the office, the National Bureau of Investigation, to whom the warrants of arrest were delivered for execution based on the order of Judge (Renato) Dilag, shall cause the warrants to be

executed within 10 days from (their) receipt," he said.

The DFA could not have served the arrest warrants even if they had been advised by the DOJ because the US Embassy was closed yesterday, it being Martin Luther King Day which is a US national holiday, he added.

Meanwhile, a DFA official said yesterday they expect the DOJ to deliver to the DFA the warrants of arrest sometime today.

DFA and DOJ officials have not discussed whether to bring the warrants to the US Embassy or to summon the concerned embassy official to the DFA to receive the warrants, the official added.

Asuque said the Rules of Court provide that the head of the office where the warrant of arrest was delivered shall cause the warrant to be served within 10 days from its receipt.

"Within 10 days after the expiration of the period, the officer to whom it was assigned for execution shall make a report to the judge who issued the warrant," he said in quoting the Rules of Court.

"In case of his failure to execute the warrant, he shall state the reasons therefore."

Asuque said the DFA continues to meet with the DOJ and hold discussions with the US Embassy to exhaust all diplomatic means.

Led by Undersecretary for Special Concerns Rafael Seguis, DFA officials met yesterday with DOJ officials regarding the arrest warrants, he added.

Meanwhile, US Embassy Press Attaché Matthew Lussenhop said the embassy is taking a "wait and see" attitude on the case involving the four US servicemen.

Washington is closely following developments after Judge Dilaghad issued the arrest warrants against the four US Marines, he added.

Lussenhop hinted that the embassy’s response to the arrest warrants may depend on instructions from Washington.

"Of course you know, elements of the government in Washington, DC are looking at it very closely," he said.

Lussenhop said the US Embassy has yet to receive the arrest warrants.

"So I couldn’t predict when or how the warrants will be presented to us," he said.

"I’d stress though that both the US and the Philippines are going forward under the terms and obligations of the VFA, and the VFA shows how to address issues involved in the case, including the issue of custody."

Asked if the embassy would wait to see how things work out, Lussenhop said: "Yes."

"We’ll take this one step at a time. We’ll be guided by the VFA and what happens underneath that," he said.

"And so far as what the lawyers for the accused and the prosecutors do, that is all within the Philippine legal system because this case is as called for by the DFA under Philippine jurisdiction."

The US government will base any of its actions regarding the custody of the American soldiers on the VFA, Lussenhop said.

Meanwhile, the party-list group Bayan Muna condemned yesterday Balikatan military exercises set in Cotabato on Jan. 17.

"The reentry of US troops in the adjacent region poses serious threats to the people’s security and increases our vulnerability from abuses and various atrocities of these foreign forces," Bayan Muna said in a statement.

On the other hand, hundreds of women belonging to the militant Gabriela will hold a two-day people’s marathon on Jan. 17 to stop the Balikatan.

"It is appalling that the Arroyo government has allowed the US troops to enter Philippine soil even at the height of the Subic rape case," said Luz Ilagan, Gabriela Women’s Party chairwoman.