FILIPINOS who love their country: Read this and weep.
The Agence France-Presse reports that US military authorities in South Korea have apologized “over the alleged rape of a 67-year-old local woman by a US soldier, saying the case was ‘an affront’ to all servicemen.” The apology was issued by Maj. Gen. John Morgan, the acting US 8th Army commander, hours after South Korean police arrested a 23-year-old American soldier for allegedly raping and beating the woman in an alley in Seoul.
Morgan, in a statement posted on the US military website, said the case “tainted the reputation of US soldiers,” with the general adding that he deeply regrets and personally apologizes for the “terrible incident that has resulted in grave injury to a Korean civilian.”
Not only that, the soldier, who has yet to stand trial, has been transferred from police custody to prison, with a South Korean judge approving Tuesday a police request for his transfer to South Korean prison facilities. The news report said “no formal charges have been laid yet.”
I hate to stress the obvious, but it seems Filipino officials need to have their faces rubbed into the obvious. Contrast the quick apology on the part of the Americans, and the decisiveness of South Korean authorities in taking custody of a serviceman who remains at this time a “suspect,” with the silence and even support of the US Embassy officials in Manila for convicted rapist Daniel Smith, as well as the abject surrender of sovereignty by Filipino officials in the case.
It gets worse. American military authorities have not only not apologized for the rape of “Nicole,” even after Smith’s conviction by a local court, they even flexed their superior military muscles and threatened to cancel joint military exercises with Philippine troops if Smith was not turned over to the US Embassy.
And the Philippine government? It not only sided with the US Embassy in its interpretation of the Philippine-US Visiting Forces Agreement, it even sought to bamboozle Judge Benjamin Pozon into releasing Smith and, failing that, thumbed its nose at the judiciary by sneaking out Smith in the dead of night in defiance of an ongoing hearing in the Court of Appeals.
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IF anyone should ask why the Americans treat the South Koreans with so much respect, and Filipinos with nothing but contempt, we need only look at the contrasting behavior and attitudes of the two “host” governments.
While the South Koreans immediately moved to arrest the suspect and hold him in captivity, Filipino officials first tried to lose the rape case and impugn the victim, and then -- frustrated by Judge Pozon’s decision -- bent over backwards to do the Americans’ bidding. Where would Smith be, we must ask, if he had raped a South Korean instead of a Filipina?
Certainly, not in his quarters inside the Embassy building, form where -- so the latest news goes -- Smith will be temporarily moved to a converted container van inside the Embassy compound. Rusty or not, a converted container van sitting out in the open is still far less secure than a guarded building. If the US Embassy needs to remodel its premises, what’s to stop officials from temporarily turning over Smith to Philippine authorities who can house him in much more secure quarters -- the National Penitentiary is my suggestion, as this is where convicted criminals are usually remanded.
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THERE is another reason the United States was so quick to apologize to the people of South Korea and expressed willingness to “cooperate fully” with the local authorities.
It turns out that the alleged crime took place at a “sensitive time,” with “Washington seeking help from Seoul to consolidate and relocate American military bases in South Korea by 2008.”
The South Korean defense ministry has already said it would not be able to complete the relocation but gave no new date for its completion, saying the delay has been caused by protests by local residents whose land has been taken over. There has also been a dispute over how to share the costs, estimated at over $10 billion.
There has been an American military presence in South Korea since the armistice that ended the Korean War, almost 60 years ago. At present, some 29,000 US troops are based there.
With North Korea detonating a nuclear device and threatening the “balance of power” in Asia, American authorities may also feel maintaining their presence in the South is crucial. That may explain why mollifying Korean sentiments about the rape and assault was considered a priority.
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