Wednesday, December 27, 2006

If the rape happened in the US

One letter writer, um, writes in today's PDI:


If rape happened in the US



As an American, I can say unequivocally that had the incident--where an incoherent, drugged or drunk, sexually abused young woman was flung in a state of degrading undress on to a street filled with horrified citizen witnesses--occurred in the United States, the criminals (even if they were a group of foreign soldiers) would all be
facing long prison sentences. There would be no spiritual advisers like Fr. James Reuter, no "We Love The Rapist" female fan clubs in Makati and, certainly, no overt or covert pressure from any foreign government to "go easy on the lads."



Where on earth can such things happen except, it seems, in the Philippines, where a significant sector of the population still indulges in a self-hating colonial mentality, which gives a disgusting, foreign rapist higher importance than the rights and honor of an abused local citizen?



Precisely! If a similar incident happened in the US, how do you think the citizens in that country would react? Don't you think they would be outraged? And don't you think the US would be gravely insulted all the more if the foreign government would still push for custody even after a conviction while at the same time, it appears, blackmailing them?

I think our government is to blame for this because, in the first place, they entered into an agreement which may have unfair terms, that is the VFA.
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