‘No special treatment for Smith’

The US Embassy is not extending special treatment to convicted rapist US Marine Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith.

This was the assurance given by Interior Undersecretary Marius Corpus who added that representatives from the Philippine government conduct random inspection on Smith.

"Because I see the Americans, they’re in good faith, they comply with their part of the agreement and have not spirited away Smith," Corpus added.

According to Corpus, he visited Smith at the US embassy a week before the Holy Week and the US Marine remains in the same detention cell since his controversial transfer to the embassy from Makati City Jail last Dec. 29.

Corpus said Smith has been impatient for the ruling of the Court of Appeals on his appeal to reverse his conviction by the Makati City Regional Trial Court for raping a woman identified only as "Nicole" inside the premises of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) in 2005.

Although there was no apparent VIP treatment, Corpus admitted that the facilities inside the US embassy are better than the facilities at the Makati jail, where Smith was initially locked up upon his conviction.

"I talked to him and asked him how he was, and he said he was getting impatient with the case. I explained to him... you have to wait for some time before the Court of Appeals resolves your appeal," said Corpus.