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Monkeys in Malacañang

FRONTLINE

Ninez Cacho-Olivares

02/17/2009

Neither Gloria Arroyo nor her Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is going to speed up talks with the US government through its embassy in Manila to retake custody of convicted rapist Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith, because precisely, the game plan is to drag it to ensure that Smith remains under the US custody.

But by doing so, Gloria and her officials are, in effect, already disobeying the Supreme Court (SC) ruling stating that while an agreement is needed to get Smith under Philippine custody, and in a “proper” facility operated by Philippine authorities, the ruling also states the agreement must be discussed “immediately.”

As a DFA official said: “There is no specific time frame, but added that the DFA is coordinating with its pool of legal experts and with the Solicitor General for the negotiations.

Gee, what can be expected from this “pool of experts” that gets its orders from Gloria, which orders it follows dutifully?

Gloria and her officials are certainly not going to fight the US over the custodial arrangements. For Gloria, that would be political suicide to go against the wishes of “good ole USA,” as she has to constantly suck up to the US, believing that a spurned US government would move to kick her out of office.

Still, Malacañang can’t keep on delaying these talks to ensure that Smith remains under the custody of the US Embassy. And that silly excuse of the Arroyo government still awaiting word from the US government on the custodial agreement doesn’t wash, because the SC ruling was clear that it is the Philippines that has the custodial rights over Smith. There is no question about that. The only issue is where both the Philippine and American governments will agree on the proper facility for Smith — but one operated and controlled by the Philippine authorities.

Why then do the DFA officials now say that they are awaiting word from the US government, and even state that the US’ legal interpretation of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) is different from ours? Why should the US’ legal opinion prevail over the SC decision?

Hey, the crime was committed in the Philippines. It was committed outside of the military joint exercises time. Smith was tried and convicted by a Philippine Regional Trial Court and even sent to the Makati City Jail — until he was spirited from that jail and brought to the US Embassy in the dead of the night.

Even then, Gloria and her government disregarded and threw the RTC’s order out of the window.

There was nothing by way of an agreement even then between the US and the Philippine governments on where Smith should be locked up. If there had been one earlier, this would have been submitted to the judge before sentencing. Instead, since the judge convicted Smith and ordered him thrown in the Makati City Jail, an “agreement” was quickly inked, to ensure that the US gets custody of Smith. It was all planned — this device to get Smith out of the Makati jail.

That Smith is going to stay under the US custody is evident. As a matter of fact, Malacañang unintentionally bared its game plan a week ago.

As a Palace official said, what if the Court of Appeals reverses the Makati RTC judge’s conviction?

So Malacañang and the US government delay the transfer of Smith, on grounds of Gloria’s government waiting for word from the US on when its officials can sit down with the Philippine officials to forge a new agreement.

In the meantime, it is not doubted that Malacañang will work on the CA, to get it to acquit Smith, which will then solve the custodial problem. No one gets him as he will have been acquitted. Another US criminal flies the Philippine coop. Again.

Once acquitted by the CA, there will then be no need for his case to be elevated to the high court.

Still, if that is how the US government wants to interpret the VFA rule, and if Gloria and her officials refuse to uphold the SC’s ruling and insist on the Philippines being inferior to the US by way of sovereignty, then what the hell, let’s abrogate the frigging VFA.

Why insist on letting this VFA exist when Americans are making monkeys out of the Filipinos, and worse, that Monkey in Malacañang allows it!