From the horse's mouth

Wouldn't you know it ... even the US judicial system thinks that Lance Corporal Daniel Smith (the US marine convicted of rape) should be in Philippine custody.
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US judicial system favors Pozon's view
First posted 20:47:02 (Mla time) 2007-01-09 Inquirer

THE CONTROVERSY over the custody issue of rape convict Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith arose from the conflicting interpretations of the phrase "all judicial proceedings" in the Visiting Forces Agreement. Specifically, that provision states that US personnel tried for crimes in Philippine courts shall remain in US custody until after the completion of all judicial proceedings.
The Court of Appeals has sustained the trial court's interpretation that the VFA provision allowing the US Embassy to keep custody of Smith in all judicial proceedings covers only proceedings before the trial court, and not the appeals process. According to the court, "The term 'all judicial proceedings'... refers to all trial court proceedings. The term is used in its descriptive sense, not in its all-embracing sense." In support of its interpretation, the appellate court said Smith may not remain further under US custody after completion of all trial proceedings because the United States has no longer any further obligation to hold and produce him for any investigative or trial court proceedings. (PDI, 1/4/07) I agree with this interpretation.
The above interpretation specially makes sense in light of the fact that under the American judicial system, upon his conviction by the lower court, a defendant in a criminal case is deemed guilty until his conviction is reversed on appeal. Effectively, until such time, his civil liberty and, to some extent, his political rights, such as the right to hold or to be voted to public office, are suspended. Logically, under this system, "all judicial proceedings" are deemed terminated once the defendant is convicted, and therefore deemed guilty until subsequently finally found innocent, in the lower court.
When it signed the VFA, had the US government not in mind the foregoing restrictive definition of judicial proceedings in light of its own criminal justice system?--DIOSDADO V. CALONGE, director, Prosecution Bureau, Office of the Special Prosecutor, Sandiganbayan Building, QC