Driver in Subic case has not yet given rape story

The second sworn statement of the driver of the van on which a US Marine allegedly raped a Filipina in November last year told nothing about the sexual assault but also did not mean that no rape occurred, according to the driver’s lawyer.

Lance Corporal Daniel Smith, the soldier accused of raping the woman known to the media only as "Nicole," had earlier presented Timoteo Soriano’s statement as evidence to prove his innocence.

But Soriano’s lawyer, Raulito Paras, pointed out that the statement did not categorically say what actually happened.

"Aside from these affidavits, he doesn’t have any other affidavit detailing what really transpired inside that van including what he heard, what he felt. Nothing," Paras told The STAR in an interview yesterday.

Soriano, who refused to testify in the trial for either side, "actually invalidated his first affidavit. That’s the effect of the second affidavit," Paras explained.

In his first sworn statement made on Nov. 3, 2005, shortly after the attack, Soriano alleged that he witnessed the rape and that other Marines aboard cheered Smith on.

In his new statement, Soriano recanted his claim, saying he was coerced by security officials of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority into signing the first statement.