"What do you want us to do, kneel before Nicole and Ursua? (Her lawyer) Do you want us to serenade her every night?"
- Secretary Raul Gonzales, Department of Justice
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Ever since, I've never been a fan of Nicole. Yeah, she was raped and all but like what I've said to my sister and mother who staunchly defended her "Sino ba namang tangang babae ang magpapaiwan sa grupo ng mga kano na hindi naman niya ganun kakilala?" And now she's crying rape for that?
As far as I know, when a girl joins a company of strangers for a drinking binge, she's ready for everything that could happen - even a gangbang with her drinking partners. Alam naman natin how people lose control when in the influence of alcohol diba? In her case, she was "gangbanged" by American soldiers who thought she was a "game girl."
Eventually her plight was caught up by the media, with the help of the NGO's and Women Support Group. Fine, at least there's a new story arc in the karnabal - like story that is the Philippine current events. The rape case in fact, became a national sensation that for a time, the media ignored Cha-Cha just to focus on Nicole's developing story.
---
During the ongoing trial, I already hinted that the Americans were willing to settle the damages in favor of Nicole. But the stupid girl ignored it for the sake of remaining in the media spotlight. Dun pa lang, sinabi ko na sa sarili ko na "tangang babae talaga ito." How can she never realized that this would be a very long and exhausting legal battle, especially in this country where everything could be bought by money.
Pero fine sige, it seems like there are people who are willing to side with her for one reason or another. Slowly, she's winning the battle not only in the country's legal system but also in the court of public opinion. In fact, when the Makati RTC declared Smith guilty, I myself could not believe that there is still justice and righteousness in this world. I thought that as you grow older, you must embrace a cynical point of view in order to adopt to the realities you have to face as you grow older.
Consequently, Daniel Smith was jailed - of course, with priviledges courtesy of the US Embassy. But I know that things have never settled down. I know that the United States, being a bully nation would never let their citizens be humiliated especially by a Third World country like ours. Kung ang China nga, nagwala na at lahat noong pinasabog ng America yung embassy nila sa Belgrade, Serbia eh dinedma lang at hindi pa humingi ng apology, sa atin pa kaya?
And while the media focused their attention elsewhere, things were already being prepared for the eventual transfer of Smith to US Custody. The signs were already there - the cancellation of the Balikatan Military Exercises, Threats of losing the most-favored trading partner status of the Philippines, and so on. Sa bandang huli, they may even threaten us by encouraging all US outsourcing clients to move to India instead just to cripple whatever national pride we have.
I can't believe that we are willing to surrender all of this for the sake of a single, stubborn girl like Nicole.
Kaya ako, I support the government's stand on this issue. I agree with the President's decision to capitulate to US demands this early because we all know, we don't have anything to stand up against America's might. We are the underdogs and will remain underdogs as long as we don't cultivate our resources ourselves. What's the sense of pride and idealism if it can't feed you or it will just leave you miserable in the end?
If Nicole was found dead and mutilated in some talahiban near Subic, absolutely my stand will be different. There is a universal difference between being brutally murdered and gang-banged due to the apparent willingness of the girl to "get closer to the stranger." Yun talaga, lalaban ako in the side of Nicole's family but for this?
They say, it's better to favor the side of the many rather than the side of the few. In this case, not only our relationship with the US is at stake but I believe that millions of local jobs that are heavily depended on lazy and exploitative Americans who can't do the jobs themselves is at risk of being taken away from us.
I know, I'm alone with this stand and what I said in this entry is subject to a lot of controversy. Don't get me wrong, I believe that Daniel Smith is guilty and he deserves to be punished. But when you see how people in power turns everything into a circus act, you can't help but take the most convenient way out. Nicole, will have a very long battle ahead. She might even be ignored by everyone if her gamble fails. For the sake of getting this out of my thoughts and to serve as a voice to those who silently disagree with how this issue is being turned into a media frenzy and obvious political manouverings, I wrote this twisted entry about my view of the issue. This post stands as defiance to those who believe that Nicole's issue should serve as an excuse for going out in the streets and protesting against the government for their handling of her case.
- Secretary Raul Gonzales, Department of Justice
---
Ever since, I've never been a fan of Nicole. Yeah, she was raped and all but like what I've said to my sister and mother who staunchly defended her "Sino ba namang tangang babae ang magpapaiwan sa grupo ng mga kano na hindi naman niya ganun kakilala?" And now she's crying rape for that?
As far as I know, when a girl joins a company of strangers for a drinking binge, she's ready for everything that could happen - even a gangbang with her drinking partners. Alam naman natin how people lose control when in the influence of alcohol diba? In her case, she was "gangbanged" by American soldiers who thought she was a "game girl."
Eventually her plight was caught up by the media, with the help of the NGO's and Women Support Group. Fine, at least there's a new story arc in the karnabal - like story that is the Philippine current events. The rape case in fact, became a national sensation that for a time, the media ignored Cha-Cha just to focus on Nicole's developing story.
---
During the ongoing trial, I already hinted that the Americans were willing to settle the damages in favor of Nicole. But the stupid girl ignored it for the sake of remaining in the media spotlight. Dun pa lang, sinabi ko na sa sarili ko na "tangang babae talaga ito." How can she never realized that this would be a very long and exhausting legal battle, especially in this country where everything could be bought by money.
Pero fine sige, it seems like there are people who are willing to side with her for one reason or another. Slowly, she's winning the battle not only in the country's legal system but also in the court of public opinion. In fact, when the Makati RTC declared Smith guilty, I myself could not believe that there is still justice and righteousness in this world. I thought that as you grow older, you must embrace a cynical point of view in order to adopt to the realities you have to face as you grow older.
Consequently, Daniel Smith was jailed - of course, with priviledges courtesy of the US Embassy. But I know that things have never settled down. I know that the United States, being a bully nation would never let their citizens be humiliated especially by a Third World country like ours. Kung ang China nga, nagwala na at lahat noong pinasabog ng America yung embassy nila sa Belgrade, Serbia eh dinedma lang at hindi pa humingi ng apology, sa atin pa kaya?
And while the media focused their attention elsewhere, things were already being prepared for the eventual transfer of Smith to US Custody. The signs were already there - the cancellation of the Balikatan Military Exercises, Threats of losing the most-favored trading partner status of the Philippines, and so on. Sa bandang huli, they may even threaten us by encouraging all US outsourcing clients to move to India instead just to cripple whatever national pride we have.
I can't believe that we are willing to surrender all of this for the sake of a single, stubborn girl like Nicole.
Kaya ako, I support the government's stand on this issue. I agree with the President's decision to capitulate to US demands this early because we all know, we don't have anything to stand up against America's might. We are the underdogs and will remain underdogs as long as we don't cultivate our resources ourselves. What's the sense of pride and idealism if it can't feed you or it will just leave you miserable in the end?
If Nicole was found dead and mutilated in some talahiban near Subic, absolutely my stand will be different. There is a universal difference between being brutally murdered and gang-banged due to the apparent willingness of the girl to "get closer to the stranger." Yun talaga, lalaban ako in the side of Nicole's family but for this?
They say, it's better to favor the side of the many rather than the side of the few. In this case, not only our relationship with the US is at stake but I believe that millions of local jobs that are heavily depended on lazy and exploitative Americans who can't do the jobs themselves is at risk of being taken away from us.
I know, I'm alone with this stand and what I said in this entry is subject to a lot of controversy. Don't get me wrong, I believe that Daniel Smith is guilty and he deserves to be punished. But when you see how people in power turns everything into a circus act, you can't help but take the most convenient way out. Nicole, will have a very long battle ahead. She might even be ignored by everyone if her gamble fails. For the sake of getting this out of my thoughts and to serve as a voice to those who silently disagree with how this issue is being turned into a media frenzy and obvious political manouverings, I wrote this twisted entry about my view of the issue. This post stands as defiance to those who believe that Nicole's issue should serve as an excuse for going out in the streets and protesting against the government for their handling of her case.
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