Wednesday, January 03, 2007 Mayor sneers at transfer of Smith to US custody By Carlo P. Mallo and Jeffrey M. Tupas
MAYOR Rodrigo R. Duterte stands firm in his belief that convicted rapist Lance Corporal Daniel Smith should have remained in Philippine custody, sneering at how the US government sneaked Smith out of detention at the Makati City Jail.
"They did not respect our judicial process, they brought the case to the Court of Appeals and then they would not even wait for the decision and simply whisked that bastard away," Duterte said Tuesday.
The mayor said the Americans obviously bullied the Philippine government into releasing Smith to their custody.
"We all know for a fact that it was just a matter of time before Smith ends up in the laps of his country," Duterte said.
Developments late Friday evening caught everyone by surprise as Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno asked for the immediate transfer of Smith to the custody of the US Embassy. Smith was convicted early December last year for raping a Filipino woman in Subic.
"The legal niceties were not observed here. Had I been there, it would have not happened," added Duterte who also served as a prosecutor in the city for several years before becoming a mayor.
Even with the existence of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), the question of jurisdiction is not really difficult to resolve according to Duterte.
He maintained that Smith should have not been moved from the custody of the Philippine government even while the case is being subjected to reconsideration.
Duterte said the decision to transfer Smith could further intensify the stand of the people and groups who are against the Americans.
The militant women's group Gabriela said the transfer was an act of treachery and lambasted the Arroyo government for aiding and cuddling Smith.
"Like thieves in the night, the Arroyo administration and its cohorts from the foreign affairs and justice department as well as the Filipino lawyers for Smith have again done this cunning move," said Emmi de Jesus, secretary general of Gabriela.
"They have staunchly defended the VFA and the rapist and now they have gone this far to show their servitude to the US by allowing the escape of a criminal. Shame on these protectors of a criminal!" said de Jesus.
She added that they will hold those who were behind Smith's transfer as criminally liable for betrayal of people's trust and national sovereignty.
De Jesus said the Balikatan military exercises was being used by the American government as bribe, which the Philippine government will only get if it will give up on Smith.
"The Filipino people have long been demanding for the halt of the military exercises, which are not only economically detrimental to the Filipino people but also resulted to social costs including the rape and abuse of Filipino women," de Jesus said.
"This aid of the US has only brought violence against the majority of the Filipino people as it only clearly serves the interest of the Arroyo regime," de Jesus added.
