Daniel Smith custody issue up for oral arguments Friday

MANILA, Philippines - The legality of the controversial transfer of custody of US serviceman and convicted rapist Lance Corporal Daniel Smith under the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement will be put to test Friday before the Supreme Court. The oral argument will seek to answer question on whether the right to Smith’s custody during the pendency of his appeal before the Court of Appeals belongs to the Philippine government or to US authorities. It will also determine whether there was contempt of court committed in the transfer pending the appeal of the conviction. Smith, a participant in the 2005 Balikatan exercises in the auspices of the VFA, was convicted by the Makati regional trial court with the rape of a Filipina inside the Subic Bay Freeport last November 1, 2005. On December 29, 2006, while the case was on appeal at the Court of Appeals, Smith was spirited by police and personnel from the Makati city jail to the JUSMAG building inside the US embassy pursuant to an executive agreement signed on December 22, 2006 between Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo and US Ambassador Kristie Kenney. The Supreme Court has given each of the parties involved 20 minutes to present their arguments. The first group of petitioners includes former Senators Jovito Salonga, Wigberto Tañada and several lawyers, while the other petition was filed by militant groups Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, Bayan Muna, Gabriela and the Public Interest Law Center (PILC). Named respondents in the two cases were President Arroyo, then acting Defense Secretary; Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita; Romulo; Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez; and Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno. In their petition, Salonga’s group argued that the executive agreement transferring the custody of Smith to US authorities is unconstitutional, adding that the VFA violates and infringe on the exclusive power of the Supreme Court to promulgate rules and procedure in all courts under the 1987 Constitution. Militant groups, meanwhile, are asking the high court to nullify the agreements between officials of the DFA and the US embassy that allow the latter to take custody of Smith. Smith has filed a petition before the CA seeking the reversal of the lower court’s decision. The appellate court has yet to issue a decision on Smith’s appeal, following the retirement of the assigned ponente, Justice Agustin Dizon, last June 27. - GMANews.TV