Nicole: Rape case not an RP vs US issue

The case against four US Marines accused of raping a Filipino woman is not an issue of the Philippines versus America, the alleged victim said yesterday.

"Nicole," as she is known on court records, said people should not look at her as someone who hates the US just because four of its soldiers allegedly abused her while on a break from military exercises with Filipino soldiers.

"Galit ako pero (I’m angry but) not (at Americans) in general," she told The STAR, in reference to the accused Lance Corporals Daniel Smith, Keith Silkwood, Dominic Duplantis and Staff Sergeant Chad Carpentier.

The victim known only as Nicole said she also has "American friends who believe" her and are even proud of how she is fighting.

Nicole also clarified that she was misinterpreted in news reports when she spoke of how she can eventually forgive the accused the same way God forgives.

"Forgiving them doesn’t mean they won’t have to be punished," she said, echoing her earlier pronouncements that if she can have it her way, death is the sentence she would ask for.

Nicole stressed she is not asking for an apology, and is not about to throw away all she that she has done and sacrificed for the case.

The four accused, members of an expeditionary force, remain under custody of the US Embassy in Manila as stipulated in the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), which spells out the guidelines of bilateral military exercises held here.

Nicole lodged rape charges against the US Marines after she was allegedly raped inside a van on the night of Nov. 1, 2005 in Subic, Zambales.

The case was filed in Olongapo City but the Supreme Court ordered for its transfer to the Makati City regional trial court last January.

Judge Benjamin Pozon heard the case for some four months from June 2 to Oct. 5, and is planning on issuing a decision on Nov. 27.

Nicole and other prosecution witnesses, during the hearings held four days a week, maintained that Smith sexually abused her. All four accused denied this, saying the 21-year old American soldier and Nicole had consensual sex.

Both camps said they believe in the integrity and fairness of Pozon, who went on a two-week leave of absence starting yesterday to study the case.

Prosecution and defense lawyers are now preparing their respective memoranda containing their closing arguments that will have to be submitted to Pozon on or before Nov. 6.

The VFA gives Philippine courts a one-year deadline to determine the guilt or innocence of American soldiers accused of committing crimes on Philippine soil.