Women Deliver Warrant of Arrest Vs Smith, Calls for the Abrogation of VFA Heighten

A hundred members of women's partylist group Gabriela and Gabriela Southern Tagalog today held a lightning rally in front of the United States Embassy, delivering the “Women's Warrant of Arrest” against L/Cpl. Daniel Smith, a US soldier who was convicted on the charges of rape of a Filipina named “Nicole.”

Gabriela Women's Party Secretary General Cristina Palabay said that the United States government is likewise guilty for continuously harboring and pampering a convicted rapist, by giving him full comfort inside the US embassy or full freedom on the reported trips of Smith outside the US embassy compound.

“A rapist is a rapist, and under Philippine laws, he should be jailed in Philippine detention facilities. Such special treatment and US custody of Smith smacks of arrogance and domination of US interests over national interests in upholding the dignity of Filipino women and rendering justice,” Palabay said.

The woman leader also criticized US Ambassador Kirstie Kenney's statements on the study of the US government's legal experts on the transfer of custody of Smith as “empty diplomatic platitudes meant to appease the Filipino public's demand for the transfer of custody.”

“US Ambassador Kenney's statements are mere indications of the lopsidedness of the US-RP Visiting Forces Agreement. Through the agreement, they have the leeway to trample on the Philippine justice system by maintaining custody of US military offenders in our territory,” Palabay added.

Palabay fears that continuous joint military exercises between US and RP soldiers in Bicol and Central Luzon in April 2009 may bring graver forms of violence against women and children.

“Time and again, Filipino women and children have been victimized by the intrusion of US soldiers in our communities. The VFA should be immediately abrogated,” she concluded.