By INNABUYOG-GABRIELA

GUILTY! That is the verdict of the Filipino women against the four suspects in the Subic rape case. In a symbolic trial organized by GABRIELA, women gave jail sentences to Smith, Carpentier, Silkwood and Duplantis for the heinous acts they did against Nicole.

Also put on trial in the case are the Philippine and US governments for their participation in the crime. As GABRIELA explained, it’s not enough to merely judge the four US Marines as guilty. We need to judge the US government’s political and military intervention in the Philippines in the form of the Visiting Forces Agreement and the passivity of the Philippine government in Nicole’s quest for justice, as enough evidence of their guilt.

The symbolic trial put forward the real sentiment of the Filipino people, especially now that the promulgation date is only days away (rescheduled recently to early December – eds). Nicole’s case is strong, but so are the governments that protect the rapists.

The women judges in the symbolic trial included Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Liza Maza, Nanay Nerissa Guerrero, National Chairperson of SAMAKANA, the urban poor women’s organization, and other women leaders. Dressed in purple robes and wielding gavels, women leaders presented their analysis, enumerating the major points that contributed to the guilty verdict.

Among these points were:
• GMA’s lack of support for the victim while using the Department of Justice to malign her, which makes GMA a poor defender of women;
• the US government’s long and intensifying record of abuses and violations including those perpetrated under the VFA; and
• the supposed “stronger than ever” relationship between the Philippines and the US.

All four suspects, along with GMA and the US government, have violated the very person of Nicole and the Filipino nation. We demand that the four suspects serve their due sentence in jail. We demand that the VFA be abrogated for it only serves as a license and a vehicle for US soldiers to abuse the people. Justice for Nicole and justice for the Filipino people. That is what is due. #