Honest Opinions. Their words ... not mine.

I didn't say it ... an American did. Need I say more?

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If rape happened in the US
First posted 01:30:43 (Mla time) 2006-12-27 Inquirer

I READ in the financial times of London that the United States is pressuring the Philippine government to release a recently convicted American rapist into US custody, otherwise the US government will withhold its military aid for the Philippines.

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?

May those multitudes of good Filipinos who uphold justice and respect human dignity demand that their government refuse to cave in to US blackmail. After all, it is more likely that the Bush administration will ultimately decide to sacrifice one dumb rapist rather than risk its strategic position in the Pacific area.

--ROBIN EASTMAN-ABAYA, via e-mail

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