‘Nicole’ breaks down as she takes witness stand

The Subic rape case hearing required three recesses yesterday after the 22-year-old Filipina accusing four United States Marines of raping her broke into tears repeatedly on the witness stand as she recalled her ordeal.

Makati City regional trial court Judge Benjamin Pozon opted to adjourn the proceedings on the third recess as "Nicole," the 22-year old complainant, was about to go into a detailed description of how she was allegedly raped.

The first time Nicole broke down was during direct examination, when her lawyer, Evalyn Ursua, presented her and asked questions regarding the plaintiff’s personal circumstances. This was the first time Nicole took the witness stand since the trial started last month.

Some 20 minutes into the direct examination, Nicole cried as she answered questions about her biological father whom she said was dead. This prompted Pozon to allow a 10-minute break, during which Nicole’s mother and her psychiatrist, Dr. June Lopez, embraced her.

The Marines, who are detained at the US Embassy in Manila, deny the charges filed in December, saying only one of them had sex with the woman and that the sex was consensual.

One of the accused said the woman was being manipulated to incriminate them.

The four accused are Lance Corporals Daniel Smith, Dominic Duplantis and Keith Silkwood and Staff Sergeant Chad Carpentier

On the afternoon of Nov. 1, 2005, Nicole said she, her sister and another companion named Franco went to the San Roque Chapel in Olongapo to light a candle for her father, but added that they were unable to do so because the chapel was closed.

Drunk and frightened

After going to the Neptune Club, Nicole said she imbibed six different alcoholic drinks — a Singapore Sling, a B52, a Long Island Ice Tea, vodka and Sprite and half a pitcher of a cocktail called Bull Frog.

"I felt someone grab me by the hand. I tried to resist but I can no longer remember what happened," Nicole told the packed courtroom.

Scared because she didn’t know who Smith was, she turned to a US Navy man, a family friend from Zamboanga, who said it was OK to dance with the Marine while telling Smith, "Just take care of her."

She continued to drink and then testified that she was forced out of the bar.

Nicole made no mention of being carried out of Neptune Club piggy-back fashion by Smith, as was testified earlier by other witnesses.

While Nicole was initially supposed to rise from the witness stand and approach the man she was identifying as her assailant, defense counsel Benjamin Formoso blocked the move and simply agreed that the person referred to was his client.

Formoso also told Pozon that he wanted to have it put on record that Nicole was not crying when she identified Smith as her assailant. Ursua also asked the court at this point to take note of how her client was giving Smith "dagger looks."

The next thing she remembered was being in a van with a man on top of her, Nicole said, identifying Smith as her assailant, as she broke down for the third time, prompting another 10-minute break.

Nicole, a management accounting graduate, will continue her testimony today after the judge stopped the hearing for the day.

"We closed our business for a while just to be with her," Nicole’s mother told reporters. "We know that today will be a difficult day for her."

Nicole was excused from the stand and was offered white roses by family and friends as Ursua held her in a tight embrace.

Nicole said she managed a canteen in the military’s Southern Command, where she met US soldiers in the country for counterterrorism training in southern Zamboanga city.

More picketing

Members of the militant women’s group Gabriela picketed the Makati Hall of Justice as the hearing was ongoing, along with 25 old women who claim they were victims of sexual slavery during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in World War II.

Gabriela party-list Rep. Liza Maza attended the hearing, along with former senator Leticia Ramos Shahani, who authored several pieces of pro-women legislation during her tenure in the Senate.

"Our expression of support will intensify until justice is done," Gabriela said in a press statement. "We will launch a comprehensive Justice for Nicole movement that will involve men and women from different fields who are willing to take complete action and help achieve justice for Nicole."

In a related development, Pozon has approved the prosecution’s move to present forensic pathologist Raquel del Rosario-Fortun as an expert witness.

After studying Fortun’s qualifications, the court ruled that she may take the witness stand.

The controversial case has generated intense local media attention and put the spotlight on Manila’s close relationship with Washington, with critics arguing that a Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) gives US soldiers too much protection.

But it has prompted only small protests and is not expected to hurt ties between the Philippines and its former colonial ruler.

Smith, Duplantis and Silkwood and Carpentier sat silently through the hearing.

Prosecution witnesses have told the court they saw a woman drinking with the Marines at a bar on the night of the attack and how she was carried outside into a van by one of the sailors.

Other witnesses said they saw a woman being carried from the van and left on the pavement with her pants around her knees.

Dr. Rolando Ortiz II of the James Gordon Memorial Hospital in Olongapo City earlier testified that the accuser suffered bruises on her arms, legs and genital area that were consistent with a sexual assault.

Nicole’s stepsister claimed her family was offered money to drop the case.

The Marines disputed the charges. The case is expected to finish by August with hearings four times a week.

Carpentier, who together with the other Marines has been confined to the US Embassy in Manila, told GMA television station in a rare interview that Nicole was being manipulated to accuse the servicemen: "She’s a victim but not a victim of us, she’s a victim of some of the people surrounding her."

"We’re human. We’re not, you know, the monsters that we’re made out to be," he added.

The embassy, which has custody of the men under a treaty with the Philippine government, hasn’t released their ages or hometowns.

Under the treaty, the proceedings must conclude in one year.

The case sparked anti-American protests in the former US colony and is seen as a black mark on exercises credited with helping weaken al-Qaeda-linked militants in the country’s restive south.

The men were part of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Force stationed in Okinawa, Japan.