GIs dumped half-naked woman after rape, court told

A witness at the trial of four US Marines accused of raping a Filipina testified yesterday that he saw three of the men carry a disoriented, half-naked woman out of a van at a former US naval base in Subic.

Businessman Joseph Khongghun told the Makati City regional trial court that the three men, one black and two white, left the woman on the sidewalk on the evening of Nov. 1 last year and then ran toward a US warship docked at a pier, while the van also drove off.

Asked by Judge Benjamin Pozon yesterday if the three men were inside the courtroom, the witness stepped off the stand and walked to where Lance Corporals Dominic Duplantis, Daniel Smith and Keith Silkwood were seated, then tapped them on their shoulders.

The witness also identified the woman complainant, who cried at the start of the testimony and later left the courtroom.

Prosecutors allege that Smith raped the woman inside the van, while the others — Silkwood, Duplantis and Carpentier — cheered him on.

The defendants, who have acknowledged that one of them had consensual sex with the woman, face 40 years in jail if convicted.

Khongghun said he and his in-laws were strolling on the sidewalk facing the bay when the van pulled up.

When she was deposited on the sidewalk she appeared to be conscious but confused, the witness said. He said the woman told him she could not recall her own name or where she lived, and had trouble pulling her pants up.

"She was sitting (on the pavement) trying to reach her pants," Khongghun said. "The pants were below her knees."

Khongghun said a woman who was with him, Maria Fe Castro, noticed something dangling from the other woman’s panties, pulled it out and saw it was a condom.

After he called the police, the officers put her on the back of the patrol car but she ran out. "She was crying and wailing," Khongghun added. The officers chased her and put her back in the car then drove her to a hospital.

The alleged rape has triggered anti-American street protests.

Public anger was stoked further on Wednesday when the US embassy barred four US Navy investigators who had looked into the rape allegations from testifying, invoking diplomatic immunity for the American probers.

The US Embassy gave assurances yesterday it would cooperate with local authorities but said the issue of diplomatic immunity prevented US Navy investigators from testifying in the proceedings.

Manila and Washington "are in frequent communication about this issue. The US remains committed to seeing that justice is served, and looks forward to a fair and impartial trial that can provide for a just outcome," the embassy said in a statement.

Prosecutors accused the embassy of holding up the proceedings and Pozon yesterday gave the witnesses a deadline of next Wednesday to appear in court.

US Naval Criminal Investigation Service agent Tony Ramos informed the court yesterday he was not authorized to testify, citing diplomatic immunity.

But the judge threatened to hold him in contempt for refusing to testify and said he would ask the Department of Foreign Affairs to clear up the situation.

Before the embassy invoked diplomatic immunity, another Navy investigator, Ronald Veltz, testified Monday that the driver of the van told him that the servicemen were with the woman that night.

The embassy said in a statement that the Navy’s preliminary report was provided to the prosecutor, "however, there are issues of diplomatic immunity... concerning the appearance and testimony of diplomatic personnel in court about which the US Embassy and Department of Foreign Affairs are currently communicating."

It said the US government has worked with Philippine authorities "under the precepts of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) throughout the investigation of this alleged incident, and will continue to do so through the completion of the judicial proceedings."

The Marines had just finished counterterrorism maneuvers with Philippine troops and were on shore leave when the alleged incident occurred.

The US Marines have refused to answer the charges, and the judge entered a plea of innocent for them.

The rape case sparked angry calls for the scrapping of the VFA, a 1999 accord allowing large-scale US military exercises in the Philippines.

It also allows American troops who are charged with crimes to remain in US custody until legal proceedings are completed.

The rape case is seen as a black mark on the US military exercises that have been credited with helping weaken al-Qaeda-linked militants in the southern Philippines.

The US Embassy has refused to turn the Marines over to Philippine authorities, citing a provision under the VFA.

However, the US decision infuriated many, including many lawmakers, and set off small but noisy anti-US street protests. — With AFP, AP, Pia Lee-Brago