Driver in Subic rape case vows to tell all

Timoteo Soriano Jr., the driver of the Hyundai Starex van where a 22-year-old Filipina was allegedly raped by four American soldiers at the Subic freeport in Zambales last year, "wants to tell the whole world what really happened that night."

Soriano’s lawyer Raulito Paras said his client wants to take the witness stand so that the truth about the incident, insofar as his version of the events is concerned, can at long last be told.

"It doesn’t really matter who he testifies for," Paras told The Star in an apparent effort to clear speculations that Soriano is going to testify for the defense after he refused to do so for the prosecution.

However, Paras, who is now opposing the Department of Justice (DOJ)’s move to reinstate his client in the roster of the accused in the rape case against United State Marine Lance Corporals Daniel Smith, Keith Silkwood, Dominic Duplantis and Staff Sergeant Chad Carpentier now under trial at the Makati City regional trial court (RTC), said a person cannot be expected to testify in court against himself if he is among the accused in the case.

He said Soriano actually wants to take the witness stand, but the prosecution’s "technicalities" are preventing him from doing so.

Paras, in opposing the DOJ’s petition to reinstate Soriano as an accused in the case filed before Branch 139 Judge Benjamin Pozon, said his client is invoking his right against self-incrimination.

The prosecution’s five government lawyers and the plaintiff’s private lawyer are expected to file an answer to this argument tomorrow.

Paras said a person’s right against self-incrimination is not just a procedural right, but is also a right guaranteed by the Constitution.

He said Soriano wants to testify before the court but, "if he is indicted as an accused, the more he will not testify."

He added that his client’s refusal to testify was issued because Soriano cannot take the witness stand as both witness and accused. The DOJ is asking the Court of Appeals to reverse an Olongapo City judge’s ruling that discharged him as a respondent in the case.

"Not testifying for the prosecution doesn’t mean that there was no rape and not testifying for the defense doesn’t mean that there was," Paras said.

"It works both ways," Paras added, saying that, as far as he knows, Soriano is standing behind his second sworn statement that there was no gang rape.

According to Paras, Soriano’s testimony will most likely affirm the statements he gave the US Naval Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS) agents who investigated the case.

Paras said his client, who is married with one child in grade school, stopped working again after receiving a subpoena from the Makati City RTC in July.

According to him, Soriano is still employed as a driver of a car rental firm, but is merely living on an allowance now.