SIGH

Some unprocessed reactions on a development in the Subic rape case. Apparently, "Nicole" has been granted a visa to the U.S. or has already been in the U.S. for a week. The news comes on the heels of Obama's personal phone call to GMA regarding the VFA. It's disturbing news on many levels. Because Barbs can't relate the news to food, I'm going to have a crack at this.

From a distance, I see the development as a reflection of so many ills plaguing Philippine society, stemming from a colonial history and tangled in current neo-colonial trappings. It also reflects the grim situation of the judicial process in the country as well as the unabated diasporic phenomenon in response to a hopeless homeland.

Here we have a U.S. soldier who forced himself on a young Filipina. Daniel Smith was convicted but continues to defy a Supreme Court order that would have him detained at a Philippine facility instead of the U.S. Embassy. Now "Nicole" has fired her lawyers and many suspect that the young woman was pressured into leaving for the U.S. Perhaps though it was her own decision. After all, how many Filipinos wait years for that prized visa? Perhaps it is part of a deal between the U.S. and Malacanang to broker Smith's eventual release. Maybe it's GMA's way of currying favor with Obama. Who knows. But it all smells fishy. And it's sad. And infuriating.

"Nicole and her family are tired of the case and they do not want anymore to be bothered by it because there is no justice in the Philippines," a statement from one of the dismissed counsel said.

Many people came to the aid of "Nicole" when news broke out that a Filipina had been raped by visiting U.S. servicemen and once again the controversial VFA came to the fore. For four years, people fought for justice and clamoured for Philippine sovereignty over the matter, is it too much to expect that one's government protect its own in one's own country and uphold its rights and interests? It seems however that political manueverings, disillusionment of the possibility of any substantial justice and perhaps the lure of greener pastures (even those of one's abusers) prevail...

There's still not too much information regarding the details of Nicole's disappearance - whether it was a voluntary or opportunistic flight or one of exile and banishment so that things can quiet down either for her family or for Malacanang. We'll have to wait and see. Smith may have been convicted and Nicole may understandably want to move on from that night but the rape of the country continues.