Solidarity message from Japan support network for the subic rape victim in the Phlippines

Solidarity Message

The Support Network of Philippine Rape Case, Japan"

October 25, 2006 

Dear Friends of for Nicole, Justice for our Nation Campaign Network (JNJN)¡and ¡Task Force Subic Rape¡ 

We send a solidarity message to ¡ÈNicole¡É and all supporters of ¡the 

Justice for Nicole, Justice for our Nation Campaign Network (JNJN). 

Our fight for Nicole is also for many other "Nicole"s in Japan, 

Philippines and all over the world who suffer from US military sexual violence 

and discrimination.

On Oct. 14, One female was stubbed by US serviceman in Sasebo City in 

Nagasaki, where the criminal Smith¡Çs landing vessel of US navy, 

¡ÈESSEX¡ is stationing. £Ïn Oct. 20, A family of a female worker killed by US 

GI, filed a civil lawsuit against Japanese government and US military 

authority. The GI killed the female worker in Yokosuka City this January 

and has sentenced life imprisonment this July.

From Sep.29, 500 huge trucks landed on to Okinawa, in Japan from big US 

navy landing vessels, and brought 24 missiles, launchers and other 

equipments into US Base, through common road, beside residents driving 

cars. 1,500 US military servicemen and families are coming into Okinawa as 

more stationing. US military abuses will inevitably increase especially 

in Okinawa.

Under the difficult situation of ¡Anti-Terror War¡É of US, We really 

respect the courage of ¡Nicole¡and all efforts to support her 

HISTORICAL struggle.

We are so happy to share and cooperate with you, in this historical 

court struggle in the Philippines against US military authority, and your 

DOJ.

We must say that the Japanese government is also, always supporting and 

following US military, not with our residents and people. VFA and 

Japan-US security treaty are severe violation of our peoples¡rights and 

our constitution.

We will fight for our human rights and for our sovereignty. And we 

protests to change the Japanese constitution, which denounces the armed 

forces. It is change for war aggression.

We will progress with you in our struggle for gender justice, human 

rights and peace.

We will make the world of ¡NO! Base NO! Rape¡

Justice! For Nicole!

Satement of Support for the Justice For Nicole! Justice For our Nation campaign of the Task Force Subic Rape

STATEMENT OF SUPPORT FOR THE JUSTICE FOR NICOLE, JUSTICE FOR OUR NATION CAMPAIGN OF THE TASK FORCE SUBIC RAPE

The trial of the Subic Rape Case in which four U.S. servicemen have been accused of raping a Filipina is coming to an end. We wholeheartedly commend the victim “Nicole” for gathering the courage to defend her dignity and demand justice for herself and our nation.

We believe that the Subic rape case is a landmark case for being the first that has come to trial in our country against U.S. servicemen, and for its importance in challenging the implementation of the Anti-rape Law in the furtherance of women’s rights.

It is frustrating indeed that Justice Sec. Raul Gonzales showed lack of sensitivity and resoluteness to defend the victim and the interests of the Filipino people by consistently acting and issuing statements inimical to the case, i.e., downgrading the case of three U.S. marines, insinuating that Nicole could be merely imagining the prosecutors’ “incompetence” just as she may have imagined being raped, and his stubborn refusal to change the prosecutors in spite of the unethical and unprofessional conduct of the senior prosecutor.

We denounce the lead state prosecutor’s attempt to broker a deal for Nicole to withdraw her case, thus acquitting the U.S. marines in exchange for some compensation and possible sojourn in the United States. At the same time, insinuations were made that a Jocjoc Bolante deal could ensue if the case is not settled soon.

We support Nicole and her family in their refusal to further attend the trial due to their absolute loss of trust and confidence in the state prosecutors, whom Nicole and her family accused of “incompetence” in cross-examining the U.S. marines, particularly the No. 1 principal accused, a situation aggravated by the refusal of the lead state prosecutor to allow Nicole’s private counsel to participate in the cross examination.

We believe that the Subic Rape Trial has denied due process and fair trial to the victim Nicole through the one-year limitation period for trial imposed by the Visiting Forces Agreement.

We renew our call for the Senate to scrap the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) for undermining our laws and judicial system, extending more rights and privileges to U.S. soldiers and denying equal treatment to Filipino citizens. Moreover, the VFA has been a convenient cover for continuing U.S. intelligence and military operations in the country in pursuit of U.S. military adventurism and their strategic economic interest in this region.

We firmly believe that the ultimate judge of this case will be the Filipino people in their aspirations for justice and national sovereignty, and in solidarity with people’s movements everywhere to establish the conditions for lasting peace.

We, the undersigned, therefore, call on the Filipino people to rally behind Nicole who as a rape survivor is fighting not only for herself but for the dignity of all Filipinos, and for the sake of Filipino women and men who are at risk from various types of abuse that may arise from the Visiting Forces Agreement.

News

‘Nicole’ too ashamed to go home

First posted 10:01pm (Mla time) Oct 09, 2006
By DJ Yap
Inquirer



"NICOLE" has not been home for almost a year since that fateful night in Subic, when she was allegedly raped by a US Marine while his colleagues cheered on.

While the general public knows her only as Nicole, her true identity is no secret to her friends and neighbors in her hometown.

“I haven't set foot in Zamboanga since it happened. I don't think I can ever show my face there again,” Nicole said in an interview last week in a Quezon City restaurant.

“My old friends and neighbors in my hometown have been asking about me,” she continued in Filipino. “They're always asking my relatives when I'm coming home, or assuring my relatives that they aren't affected by what happened.”

Among her friends, ironically enough, are American servicemen holding military exercises in Mindanao. Her mother has also been trying to convince her to go home.

“But even if she's forcing me to, I just can't bring myself to do it,” Nicole said.

Now, her long-term plans include migrating to another country. “I just want to go some place where I won’t be recognized,” said the 23-year-old business graduate.

But “it's not going to be the United States,” she said, although she has two aunts there.

Nicole said her life changed after the incident: “If none of this had happened, I would probably be married now."

She was engaged to be married, but broke it off with her fiancé because she did not want "to jeopardize the case."

Nicole recently celebrated her birthday with supporters from various women's groups who have rallied around her cause.

It was a fun gathering, she said, although if the incident had not happened, she would have celebrated the occasion "back home with my American friends."

These days, Nicole is staying in an undisclosed location in Metro Manila with her mother and two brothers. If not attending court hearings, which ended last week, she meets with supporters, exercises, or just stays home.

Like young women her age, Nicole finds time to go to bars and other gimmick places. “But I'm escorted everywhere by my brothers or my mother,” she said.

“If my mother was not so strict with me before, now she's very strict,” she said, adding that she does not mind her family's protectiveness.

The Subic rape case has been submitted for resolution before the sala of Makati judge Benjamin Pozon. He will promulgate his decision on November 27, a month before the case marks its first anniversary.

Letter of Solidarity to Task Force Subic Rape

September 30, 2006



To: Task Force Subic Rape members,



I am writing this letter to extend my solidarity to the Task Force Subic Rape in their support of Nicole. I object to the violence against women sanctioned directly and indirectly by the state. The rape of Nicole by U.S. servicemen is part of larger attacks on Filipinos. Why are Filipino women targeted in violent ways, such as rape, and are not legitimized in the cries for justice? Out of the 3,000 plus cases of rape when the military bases were still present in the Subic area, why has it been only now that this issue makes it to court? I stand in solidarity with Task Force Subic Rape to critically look at the biasness present in the Philippine court system caused by the U.S. sponsored Visiting Forces Agreement.



Here in America, I have seen continuities of injustice on Filipino-American communities. Anti-immigration laws, such as HR 6061 “The Secure Fence Act” do not acknowledge the causes that force people to cross borders. These anti-immigration bills, are barring people from their basic human rights to survive and not questioning the root problems that displace people in their own homelands. Newly immigrant Filipinos in America are then placed in vulnerable positions where they feel unprotected by the state because of their undocumented status, and subjected to acts of violence without justice. Despite Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s recent visit to Hawaii praising the history of Filipino sugar cane workers and military servicemen, she does not acknowledge or protect them from the abuses they experience just to support their families in the Philippines.



These acts of injustice occurring the Philippines and its corresponding impacts in America reveals that there is an unequal relationship that exploits and subordinates the dignity of Philippine sovereignty and people toward the benefit of U.S. imperialist policies. I stand in solidarity with Task Force Subic Rape to scrap the Visiting Force Agreement because it limits the Philippine court system from protecting the interests of their own people. I support Task Force Subic Rape in their alliance with Nicole because this event marks a time in history where the normalization of violence against Filipino people is being challenged, and the complacency of the Philippine state to the U.S. is being illuminated as problematic.



Sincerely,
Ellen-Rae Cachola
San Francisco, CA

simbolo ng tapang at tagumpay

Sapagkat ang isang babae’y tinuring na mahina

Ikaw ay inalipusta’t ninakawan ng dangal

Ngayong ikaw ay lumaban, tinalikuran ka ng dapat sana sayo’y nagtatanggol

Ngunit di ka natinag, ni hindi ka natakot

Patuloy na hinarap ang unos na sayo’y humahamon

Sapagkat ikaw ay babae, nagpatunay na ika’y puno ng katapangan

Buong loob mong sinuong ang dagat na balot ng kadiliman

Hindi alintana ang kapahamakan sa iyong harapan

Kahit pa man kapalit nito’y iyong sariling kahihiyan

Dahil dito ang buong sambayanan sayo’y nagpupugay

Sa iyong paglagot sa tanikala ng kahintakutan at paglapastangan sa iyong karangalan

Babae…

Huwag kang mangamba

Narito sa iyong likuran ang buong hanay ng kababaihan

at ang buong sambayanan

Magpatuloy ka sa iyong laban, magpapatuloy tayo sa ating pakikibaka

Ito’y iyong laban, ito’y ating laban

At ito…

Ito ay ating pagtatagumpayan!

poem of support to 'nicole' from PAGKAKAISA NG KABABAIHAN (UNITY OF WOMEN)

Sept. 22, 2006