RP wants US help in routing communists (tags)
The Philippine government will welcome US counterinsurgency assistance against the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA), Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said on Thursday. Ermita hinted at growing US involvement in the Philippines’ internal security affairs while discussing the coming joint Balikatan war games in Jolo. Interviewed after his sendoff of President Arroyo, who left Thursday morning for Davos, Switzerland, Ermita said the Chief Executive is glad that both counterterrorism and counterinsurgency campaigns are “moving forward, very smoothly.”
PHILIPPINES: Smith's Illegal Transfer to the US Embassy: A Case of Multiple Rape (tags)
Rape of the Judicial System, Rape of Nicole once again, and Rape of the Nation's Dignity and Sovereignty
US- RP Balikatan( Shoulder to Shoulder) War Exercises to resume in February (tags)
The BALIKATAN (Shoulder to Shoulder) joint war exercises between Filipino and American troops will resume in February, an official of the US Embassy in Manila said Monday. "In February we will start again the Balikatan, US " Charges d'Affaires Paul Jones told reporters here after attending a military command conference presided over by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
RP, US: VFA review only after Smith case over (tags)
Both Malacañang and the United States Embassy said yesterday that the review of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) will only take place once the rape case against US Marine Lance Corporal Daniel Smith reaches its conclusion. While Malacañang said the Philippine government should already study the controversies that resulted from the implementation of the accord, US Embassy charge d’affaires Paul Jones said the US government will wait and see how the case concerning Smith’s custody progresses.
Rally anti-US near the U.S. embassy in Manila - January 8, 2007 (tags)
U.S. Marines Accused of Rape
Militant Lawmakers and Opposition Stalwarts Condemns Philippine Arroyo's Puppetry (tags)
President Arroyo’s public admission that her administration buckled before US pressure in the custody dispute over a convicted rapist makes her government an awkward host for an upcoming summit that includes many countries that have defied American might. Militant legislators called President Arroyo’s action as “downright improper, illegal and bordering on treason.” “This is perhaps the most scandalous crime and most unconstitutional act ever committed by Mrs. Arroyo that makes Proclamation 1017, the Calibrated Preemptive Response, Executive Order 464 and the fake people’s initiative pale in comparison,” House Deputy Minority Leader Satur Ocampo said. Ocampo called the President a “serial violator of the Constitution and the rule of law.” “The opportunist that she is, it is farfetched that she will find shame over this scandal and feel the urge to resign,” he said. “Those incensed by her corruption and cheating are now more determined to compel her ouster due to her sellout of Philippine national interests.” Party-list Rep. Crispin Beltran of Anakpawis said Smith’s transfer in exchange for resumption of Balikatan exercises makes Nicole a victim all over again. “Is there anything President Arroyo will not do to secure Washington’s approval? Her approval for the transfer of convicted rapist US Marine Lance Corporal Daniel Smith exposes how low she will go to make sure that she has the support of the US government: she is willing to throw aside Philippine law and ignore severe implications on national sovereignty. For the sake of her government’s one-sided relations with the US, she has abetted the eventual release of a convicted rapist.”
Philippines: shameless act of collaboration of the Arroyo regime and the U.S. government (tags)
"It's an utterly shameless act of collaboration of the Arroyo regime and the U.S. government." This was the statement of Myrla Baldonado, spokesperson of Task Force Subic Rape (TFSR) on the stealthy transfer of custody of Daniel Smith from the Makati City Jail to the U.S. Embassy.
Four Reasons Why Smith Should Be in RP custody (tags)
The AJLPP published this good article: THE UNDERSIGNED groups express their outrage over how the Department of Justice and the Department of Foreign Affairs have taken the cudgels for Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith who, we have learned, has been released to the custody of the US Embassy upon orders of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. These officials have forgotten that they represent the Filipino people and not an American serviceman. Instead of deferring to the judiciary's interpretation of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), they have thwarted the legal import of the original provisions of the VFA and substituted their own meaning to justify the transfer of Smith's custody to the United States. This case is not only an issue of custody.
AJLPP-USA Condemns Puppet Philippine Government Order to Return Convicted Rapist Smith to (tags)
2 AM +0800 The Alliance for A just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines (AJLPP) -USA condemn in the strongest term the puppet Philippine government order that transferred convicted American serviceman Lance Corporal Daniel Smith to the custody of the US embassy . AJLPP coordinator Mario Santos said: “Arroyo’s action proved that the Philippine government’s brazen puppetry ( kakapalan ng mukha)and lackyism (pagpapakatuta) knows no bounds. It does not only order the killing of Filipinos but also allows the rape of Filipinas and the violation of its own laws and its constitution. Arroyo should stop imploring “law and order” because she cannot even follow the laws of her country. Much more, she should renounce her citizenship and be an ugly American that she is.” .
Rape Victim's Mother Accused Arroyo of Siding with the U.S. (tags)
-- News sources today, quoted rape victim's mother describing her family's continuing fight for justice as a bout between David and Goliath, the mother of rape victim "Nicole" on Monday broke her silence and scored the government for siding with the US on the custody dispute over her daughter's convicted rapist.
US cancels Balikatan War Exercise in the Philippines, So What? (tags)
The United States has canceled the joint Balikatan war games in the Philippines. US officials said the decision was reached because courts here refused to give in to its demand for the immediate transfer of rape convict Lance Corporal Daniel Smith to American custody. The Alliance for Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines (AJLPP)-USA is not surprised with the U.S Forces Pacific Commander's decision that also stopped "all humanitarian missions and aid" to the Philippines. This form of imperial arrogance is a common reaction of a modern imperialist empire whose was not able get its demand from a lackey client nation. Only the brazen puppets will cower under this form of brinkmanship. But for the Filipino people, they will just shrug it off and say; So what?" AJLPP exclaimed.
AJLPP-USA Hails Philippine CA Decision To Junk Smith plea for TRO (tags)
The Alliance for Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines (AJLPP)-USA , today hail the decision of Philippine's Court of Appeals on Tuesday that junked rape convict Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith’s plea to be returned to United States custody. The court’s Special 16th Division denied Smith’s prayer for a temporary restraining order on Makati Regional Trial Court Judge Benjamin Pozon’s decision to keep him at the Makati City Jail, noting that his petition “precisely involves a determination of the regularity of the act of respondent judge… “We do not share with petitioner’s view and that a grave and irreparable injury would befall him pending determination of this petition,” the court ruled. “The long and short of it is that a full-blown trial has been held with all the rights of the accused accorded to hi
Philippine CA junks Smith plea for TRO (tags)
Manila-- The Court of Appeals on Tuesday junked rape convict Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith’s plea to be returned to United States custody. The court’s Special 16th Division denied Smith’s prayer for a temporary restraining order on Makati Regional Trial Court Judge Benjamin Pozon’s decision to keep him at the Makati City Jail, noting that his petition “precisely involves a determination of the regularity of the act of respondent judge… “We do not share with petitioner’s view and that a grave and irreparable injury would befall him pending determination of this petition,” the court ruled. “The long and short of it is that a full-blown trial has been held with all the rights of the accused accorded to him.”
ON SMITH CUSTODY RULING (tags)
News sources today reported that the ruling of Makati trial court Judge Benjamin Pozon for convicted US Marine Daniel Smith to remain at the Makati City Jail “reflects a misunderstanding of Philippine obligations under the terms of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) during judicial proceedings,” the United States embassy said Wednesday. The embassy statement, issued a few hours after Pozon’s ruling, reiterated the American position that Smith, being a member of the US military, should remain in US custody pending final judicial proceedings -- including the appeal of the 40-year sentence on Smith for raping a Filipina last year -- of the case.