It is not up to Fr. Reuter to proclaim Smith innocent

It does not come as a surprise to anyone that the United States would try to regain custody of Daniel Smith, the US Marine convicted by a Philippine court of raping a Filipino woman in Subic last year.

It has some legal basis to stand on. In fact, many lawyers insist the basis is more solid that any Filipino nationalist would be willing to concede. That basis is the Visiting Forces Agreement, a pact signed by the two governments.

In that agreement, the United States can gain custody of an American soldier convicted of a crime by a Philippine court if the Philippine government agrees. And there is no reason why the Philippine government would not agree.

Throughout history, the state of RP-US relations has always been stacked in favor of the Americans. There has never been any treaty, pact or agreement that did not lopsidedly favor the US even at the expense of Philippine sovereignty, pride and dignity.

But as had been said at the outset, that hardly comes as a surprise. When a pygmy strikes a deal with a giant, you do not expect the giant to settle for the crumbs. On the other hand, the pygmy would be extremely lucky if the giant does not withhold even the crumbs from him.

In the tug-of-war for custody of Smith, however, the problem of the Philippines does not merely involve the inherent inequalities in its deal with the United States. Its already weak position is exacerbated by the weakness of its leader.

President Arroyo has never recovered from the stigma of her allegedly fraudulently acquired election victory. Not only has this seriously weakened her politically but it also laid her open to exploitation, even by her allies both here and abroad.

Here, her congressmen allies have unwisely pushed a charter change initiative that left senators out of the picture contrary to what the Constitution itself dictates on the matter of Congress convening as a constituent assembly.

This illegal shortcut taken forcefully toward changing the Constitution not only gave more ammunition to anti-Arroyo forces, it more importantly allowed her enemies to draw recruits from the vast human resource of uncommitted Filipinos.

Even the Roman Catholic Church, which heretofore had been reluctant to frontally condemn her in a collective voice, has now been forced to come forward and may even take up a leading position in protest.

Increasingly hemmed on all sides, it would therefore not be surprising if Arroyo hands over the rapist Smith to the custody of his government. Arroyo needs America on her side if she is to survive, even if ironically, this will only serve to weaken her further.

By far the most surprising development in this Smith episode is the coming out in public of Fr. James Reuter in defense of Smith. Reuter, a long-time Philippine resident, is an American Jesuit who acts as spiritual adviser of the rapist.

No one can begrudge Reuter if he sympathizes with Smith, both as a fellow American and as a fellow human being. But for him to come out in public to proclaim that the soldier is innocent was uncalled for.

His being a priest does not give him the power to divine the innermost soul of Smith to make a positive determination of his guilt and innocence. That power belongs only to God. How could Fr. Reuter do that, and thus consequently condemn the girl who is the victim here?