‘Accused marines may not leave’
THE four American servicemen accused of raping a 22-year-old Filipina in Subic may not leave the country in December because they must stay here for a year starting from the day they were arraigned, an official said yesterday.
“They have to remain in the country until the one-year prescribed period expires, and that will be sometime in May 2007 because we begin counting when they were arraigned,” Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said.
He made his statement on the heels of the disagreement between the prosecution and the judge of Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 139 on the interpretation of the Visiting Forces Agreement between the Philippines and the United States.
Judge Benjamin Pozon has ruled that the one-year countdown on the Subic rape case began on Dec. 27, 2005, when the case was raffled off to the Olongapo Regional Trial Court Branch 73.
But Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez maintains that accused Daniel Smith, Dominic Duplantis, Chad Carpentier, and Keith Silkwood will have to remain in the country until April 28, 2007, exactly a year after they were arraigned.
“The one-year prescription period should begin when we had actual custody of the marines, and that was when they were arraigned,” Gonzalez said.
The military agreement signed in 1999 says the US embassy has no obligation to keep in the Philippines for more than a year any American personnel being tried in a Philippine court.
But the case against the four US marines has prompted Malacañang to order Foreign Affairs to study the possibility of preparing a high-level delegation to Washington to renegotiate the agreement if necessary.
Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago wants to abrogate the treaty that, among other things, governs the conduct of American troops in the Philippines but has not been ratified by the US Congress.
But Gonzalez claimed the Philippines must first review the treaty before deciding to abrogate it, saying “the doctrine of abrogation does not operate automatically.” Joyce Pangco Pañares - Manila Standard Today
“They have to remain in the country until the one-year prescribed period expires, and that will be sometime in May 2007 because we begin counting when they were arraigned,” Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said.
He made his statement on the heels of the disagreement between the prosecution and the judge of Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 139 on the interpretation of the Visiting Forces Agreement between the Philippines and the United States.
Judge Benjamin Pozon has ruled that the one-year countdown on the Subic rape case began on Dec. 27, 2005, when the case was raffled off to the Olongapo Regional Trial Court Branch 73.
But Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez maintains that accused Daniel Smith, Dominic Duplantis, Chad Carpentier, and Keith Silkwood will have to remain in the country until April 28, 2007, exactly a year after they were arraigned.
“The one-year prescription period should begin when we had actual custody of the marines, and that was when they were arraigned,” Gonzalez said.
The military agreement signed in 1999 says the US embassy has no obligation to keep in the Philippines for more than a year any American personnel being tried in a Philippine court.
But the case against the four US marines has prompted Malacañang to order Foreign Affairs to study the possibility of preparing a high-level delegation to Washington to renegotiate the agreement if necessary.
Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago wants to abrogate the treaty that, among other things, governs the conduct of American troops in the Philippines but has not been ratified by the US Congress.
But Gonzalez claimed the Philippines must first review the treaty before deciding to abrogate it, saying “the doctrine of abrogation does not operate automatically.” Joyce Pangco Pañares - Manila Standard Today
posted by OlongapoCity Zambales at
7:50 AM
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