On December 4, U.S. Marine corporal Daniel Smith was found guilty and sentenced to imprisonment of 20 to 40 years for the rape of a 23-year old Filipina in Subic Bay in the Philippines. The rape, which occurred more than a year ago, has again brought to the fore long-simmering political and cultural tensions between the U.S. and its former colony. Three other co-accused, U.S. Marines Chad Carpentier, Dominic Duplantis and Keith Silkwood, were acquitted and promptly whisked out of the country.
The 21-year old Smith now finds himself an inmate of the Makati City Jail, facing a bleak and uncertain future, as his case winds its way on appeal through the Philippine judicial system. The victim and her supporters, given the pseudonym “Nicole” by the media, feels that justice has been done. Others are not so sure.
I confess to feeling ambiguous about the whole thing. I was disinclined to follow the case because of the high emotions that attended it from the very start. It was hard to get a fix on it from all the noise. There were also nagging questions in the back of my mind. Was this really a case of a hapless victim who was brutally violated by barbarous foreigners, as the prosecution asserts ? Or is this one wherein, per the defense, a woman scorned merely wanted to exact revenge ? I suspected that the answer lay somewhere in between.
Under Philippine law and settled jurisprudence, rape is committed by having carnal knowledge of a woman under any of the following circumstances: (1) by using force or intimidation and/or; (2) when the woman is deprived of reason or otherwise unconscious. According to the decision penned by Judge Benjamin Pozon, Smith “knew” Nicole was drunk on the night of the incident and “took advantage” of her condition. She was thus unable to resist Smith’s lewd designs. The court found no conspiracy, however, and Duplantis, Carpentier and Silkwood were freed. As stated in the ruling: “The court is morally convinced that accused Smith committed the crime charged”. Furthermore, “He (Smith) admitted having sexual intercourse with the complainant, who he knew was intoxicated and rendered unconscious by the accumulated effects of the different alcoholic drinks she had previously taken in succession, at the time of the commission of the felony.”
Rape is a heinous crime and cannot be countenanced under any circumstance. In this case, there seems to be enough basis for the “moral” conviction that Nicole has indeed been raped by Smith. The court concluded that this was a case of “date rape”, although the term itself was not used.
But this whole affair is not as clear-cut as it would seem from a cursory reading of the facts.
no comment!!!!!!! mgulo keo..
Nicole is such a bitch, now she wld retract everthing that she said, ano yun? wat happen that night ginusto nya yun, gagawa cya ng blog nun saying tinapon cya parang baboy, she even stated that she was rape sa court, tas ngayon,….. grabe ka, di mo ba alam na ang dami mo sinira na buhay jus by lying, dapat ikaw ang kinukulong, nasarapan ka naman sa nangyari tas magdedemanda ka? bilib na sana mga tao sayo pero puta ka pala
i think that when people react and get swayed and let a few individuals think for themselves, then we get a ticket to a bad ending. Frequently. A phenomena that i am afraid, is commonplace when we have an impressionable public.
was justice served?… if justice is about teaching and making plain what is right and wrong…. i think yes. but i am not referring about smith. or nicole. indeed, they had their justice and guilt to reflect a long time ago.
it is noble to fight the good cause of women’s rights, and sweet freedom, and our country’s sovereignty. but we need to understand what this all means. not what it means to the few individuals who lead us. but in the context of the event and what it means to our personal lives. not in the context of the few individuals who have clear motivations of self. not in the vague and long-winding interpretation of laws of leaders. but in simple and scientific approach to rules and ethics that govern our homes.
simply… justice reminded us once more, that we will always have significant or insignificant occurrences like this. but just the same, the message is clear: we need to spend more time to Thinking. in critical thinking. in thinking independently. that is all.
i hope this helps. 🙂