Christmas gifts, carols for jailed Marine

Supporters of Lance Corporal Daniel Smith, the 21-year-old US Marine found guilty of raping a 23-year-old Filipina, will sing Christmas carols for the American soldier on Tuesday outside the gates of the Makati City Jail.

Members of the group Justice for Daniel Smith (JDS) said they would bring him gifts and sing hymns that they hope he would hear from the stockroom of the jail facility where he is detained. 

"We will sing for him and bring him our gifts. I have a wristwatch for him," Grace Santos, their leader, told The STAR yesterday.

The JDS, a small organization of military wives, students and professionals, came out to publicly declare support for the US Marine days after he was convicted of rape last Dec. 4.

Smith was sentenced to 40 years in jail and was ordered to pay P100,000 in damages for the sexual assault of a woman known to the public as "Nicole" inside a van on the night of Nov. 1, 2005 at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone in Zambales.

Judge Benjamin Pozon of the Makati City regional trial court (RTC) has ordered Smith’s temporary confinement at the Makati jail until Philippine and US authorities agree on a Philippine facility where he would serve his sentence.

Smith’s lawyers are now questioning the lower court’s orders and its interpretation of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), believing that their client should be returned to US custody since his case is still on appeal. 

Santos, the wife of a ranking US Marine official herself, said she and her members believe in Smith’s innocence and that he was not given a fair trial.

"Our Christmas wish for Dan is for him to be released from jail. Sana matapos na ang kaso niya para makauwi na siya sa kanila," (I hope his case will be resolved so he can go home.) she said.

JDS members, on Dec. 16, held a Mass officiated by Jesuit priest James Reuter in front of the jail’s gate to pray for Smith.

They lighted several candles for the jailed American soldier and gave him bars of chocolate, a bulbar, and a handgrip.

Nicole’s lawyer Evalyn Ursua believes that the JDS is trying to make the public forget that Smith is a convicted criminal.

"He may look tame and good-looking (in the pictures they are circulating) but he’s a criminal nevertheless," she said when asked to comment about the group.

"It’s pure propaganda. It’s an organized PR effort to gain public support and distract the people from the real issue," she told The STAR.

Ursua said the JDS is trying to make the public see a different picture of Smith by seeking public sympathy for a convicted felon.

Santos shrugged off the idea that they are being financed by the US Embassy or the US government, daring Nicole’s lawyer to prove it.

"I do it on my own. They have their own supporters. If it is true that we are being funded by the US, would it be just like that? It would be more than that," she said.

"I don’t need her opinion. It doesn’t mean anything to the people. I only care about Dan, I don’t care about Nicole. Dapat irespeto nya rin yun," (She should respect that.) she added.

Santos said those wanting to get in touch with them may contact the JDS through telephone numbers 0919-8353728, 0197-9016592, and email the group at [email protected] and [email protected].