Philippines: More ruckus over US soldier rape case

This is from the Tribune(Manila)


This case has long been a focus of protest in the Philippines. It seems that the Arroyo govt. has now caved in to US pressure. Arroyo is courting even more trouble in ignoring her own government's court order. It seems as the article points out that the US is a sovereign govt. as Corpus notes but that the Philippines is not! Why is Arroyo not implementing the decision of her own court. The answer is simple. Corporal Smith is under US custody not the Philippines. The US position is that Smith will not be turned over until all legal appeals are exhausted. Perhaps by then he will have disappeared!

For shame, for shame

Ninez Cacho-Olivares
02/13/2009
What was done is now being undone by the Arroyo government, that is proving to be utterly subservient to the US government.
The Supreme Court (SC) has already spoken, upholding the sovereignty of the Philippines by ruling that Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith, who has been convicted of raping a Filipina, should be placed in a facility that is under Philippine authorities.
But there went Interior Undersecretary, Marius Corpus, in a radio interview saying that the Philippine government can’t do anything if the US government refuses to comply with the order and cannot even pursue charges against Smith because the US is a sovereign state.
Good grief! And the Philippines is not?
Was not the crime of rape committed in the Philippines and outside of the military joint exercises time frame?
If a Filipino commits a crime in the US, does not the US government charge and try the Filipino offender in their courts, and even detains the offender?
Ah, but the Arroyo government will argue that the case of Smith is rooted in diplomatic agreements and is therefore to be treated differently. Granted. But that agreement between Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo and US Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney precisely is supposed to be aligned with what the Visiting Forces Agreement, where it states that the Philippines should have custody of the American offender. And our SC has already ruled that it should be Philippine authorities who should take custody of Smith.
Yet there went Malacañang saying that the US is studying it and is subjecting this ruling to US legal interpretation.
And there went Corpus, less than 24 hours after the ruling was issued, already on radio saying that the Philippine government can’t force the US to hand over Smith because it is a sovereign state.
If the US refuses to comply, he said, we cannot force the US to comply or prosecute.
Corpus explained that the US authorities had “assured” him that they will turn over Smith to Philippine authorities after the “termination of all judicial proceedings,” adding that the US interprets the “all judicial proceedings” as all legal processes including a final ruling by the SC.
Hasn’t he realized the consequence of what he has said?
What it means is that the US government does not have to respect and abide by the laws of the Philippines and can even dismiss rulings by the SC. It means that the Arroyo government believes it is the US that will interpret Philippine laws, to its advantage, naturally. It means that the US does what it wants in a host country that is just as much a sovereign as the US.
Therefore, any frigging American soldier — or for that matter, any foreign soldier — participating in the joint military exercises in the country can rape, maul and kill any Filipino after military exercise hours and merely say that, despite the SC ruling, the Arroyo government is so helpless that it cannot uphold the ruling of the highest court in the land? But isn’t that also saying that the US interpretation of our laws is superior to the interpretation of the sovereign country’s highest court of the land?
This is an insult not only to the SC and the Filipinos as a nation, but the sovereignty of the Phlippines. Whose laws and their interpretation are to be followed? The US? We are not bound by US laws or their US government’s interpretation of these laws. And it is a treasonous government that refuses to protect the interest of a sovereign country while bowing to the demands of a foreign government that insults it and its laws by refusing to comply with the SC ruling.
An American soldier raped a Japanese and was held by the Japanese police. It is the Japanese authorities that have custody of this rapist. If Japan can do this, why not the Philippine government? Why is there a different US interpretation for the same crime in Japan, and in the Philippines?
If the US government refuses to comply, this is clearly an insult to the Filipino nation. The least this American puppet government, to keep its face, if not the Filipino’s pride, is to cancel the Visiting Forces Agreement. The US can pull out all its troops in the joint military exercise. And good riddance!