3 Other US Marines Acquitted
This is the Decision rendered by Judge Benjamin Pozon in the celebrated Subic Bay Rape Case. I just listened to it being read and I have no basis to question its fairness or correctness. Rape is a heinous and horrible crime. Both Filipinos and Americans abhor its every commission.
Let the Law render its judgment and punish the guilty.
Daniel J. Smith has just received a sentence of reclusion perpetua and ordered to compensate Suzette Nicolas, the real person behind the pseudonym "NICOLE" for moral and compensatory damages.
Convict Smith has been ordered held at the Makati City Jail until the Philippine and US governments can come to a final arrangement.
The three co-accused US Marines were acquitted of conspiracy to commit the crime.
Related Posts of Subic Rape Case:
The Logs in Our Own Eye
What Nicole Doesn't Know
Six US Marines Held for Raping a Filipina in Subic
Visiting Forces Aggrievement
The Left and the Trapos United
Anti-VFA Forces Fall Silent For Now
Angst of the VFA Abrogationists
A Little Yellow Journalism
Exploiting Nicole
8 comments:
Is it necessary to reveal the real identity of the rape victim?
Hillblogger,
She was shown on television standing in the Makati RTC along with the defendants as the Decision of the Court was read out loud. It was the first I had heard her real name, which was broadcast on AM/FM radio stations carrying the promulgation live, as well as ABSCBN and GMA.
I guess I must be the last to know her real name.
Pity, RP news media could have spared her a potentially new damaging ordeal by keeping her real ID secret for as long as possible.
Breaking news in Europe by AP, The Times, The Independent, etc. containing a comprehensive report were careful NOT to mention her real ID.
i'm not convinced justice was served completely. 'nuff said.
I think Fr. Reuters might agree with you Ricelander, he seemed almost in tears yesterday after the verdict was read. He has spent some quality time with the accused, and being I suppose a good judge of character, we might be inclined to trust his discernment more than that of Judge Pozon.
But it is really not our place to do so. Now I don't mind suggesting that things might have been different under a Jury Trial System because as with all these type of situations, there are two sides to the story.
Weighing and judging who was right and wrong was Pozon's burden. Better him than us, no?
Dont forget there is still an appeal. But very possibly we are seeing the process called the Sacrificial Lamb perhaps to appease a slightly bigger Animal, or to prove a point.
If it ends up that the Filipino people have had their fill of such dramatics, and come to see also the seven daily rapes that occur as LOGS in OUR eye, perhaps this will all end up to the good.
I wonder if all the Filipinos, who were so eager to see a conviction in this case, now realize what the outcome means.
By a legal decision, it is now considered to be RAPE in the Philippines to meet a woman in a bar, take her out, and have sex with her. According to that definition, there are thousands of "rapes" in Manila every Saturday night.
I can almost see all the shyster lawyers in Manila, and all the gold digging girls, laying their plans for Monday morning "rape" charges against any man with any money at all.
If this is what the people of the Philippines wanted, they are going to get more than they bargained for.
so, it's suzette nicolas pala. thanks, djb.
looking at google news, mga arab at pakistani papers (5 overall so far) pa lang ang nag-reveal ng pangalan ni "nicole".
http://news.google.com/news?num=20&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&scoring=d&q=%22suzette+nicolas%22
abs-cbn and manila times i believe have outed her as early as nov. 6, believe it or not.
sa blog naman ng subic rape case, if you use the search box, wala yung pangalan na suzette nicolas.
http://subicrapecase.wordpress.com/?s=suzette+nicolas
It's also on Yahoo! News and Google News. You merely have to type in "Nicole"'s real name on these sites' (news) search boxes and it will show you the articles that mention the name. But I guess it will be deleted by the major dailies if and when they decide to use one of these wire reports.
There are also a couple of photographs on Yahoo! News which includes her real name on the caption (though her face is hidden not by Photoshop, but by her supporters who were hugging her when the verdict was announced).
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