Philippines USA relationship - After Murder

2014-10-22T19:26:45-04:00

There are many articles concerning the murder of a Marine who is accused of that murder. What do you think should be done after reading this story in the Star Stripes?

My take is that this is a valued connection and that our men understand the gravity of this and how it hurts us all. Particularly those of us with significant others in the Philippines.

http://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/philippines/marine-charged-in-transgender-person-s-killing-transferred-to-philippine-base-1.309560

Marine suspected in transgender person's killing transferred to Philippine base

A U.S. Marine suspected in the death of a transgender person in has been transferred from U.S. custody on an American ship to a Philippine military base.

Response by PO3 Shaun Taylor made Oct 22 at 2014 7:34 PM

2014-10-22T19:34:51-04:00

It goes even deeper than just with the Philippines.

Response by SGT Allen Abellon made Oct 23 at 2014 4:46 PM

2014-10-23T16:46:16-04:00

First lets see what happens. Maybe this clown did kill the person. Maybe not. Regardless the us should not hand over their service member as per the SOFA agreement. Filipinos don't trust their justice system amd neither should we. Secondly, the phillipines needs the US more than the other way around. As far as the public in the Philippines there is less sympathy for the victim than you might expect. It is a very conservative place with regard to morality. Think the US during the forties amd fifties when it comes to morality. The victims background amd the fact that she/ he was transgender weigh against. On the other hand no one wants a guest of their country killing their nationals regardless of their sexuality. SOP for this is the the US to hire a big law firm in Manila to mount a defense and they usually create enough reasonable doubt to bog the process down for a few years. If this clown did kill and is found guilty then serve his time( no death penalty in Phillipines). My take is status quo no new change. Guys. Stop killing allied nationals. Save it for the enemy.

Response by SFC Boots Attaway made Oct 23 at 2014 8:07 PM

2014-10-23T20:07:38-04:00

If he is charged of killing it off base then he should be in THEIR jail. He is accused of willfully breaking their law.

Response by SPC Joe Hammonds made Oct 25 at 2014 6:29 PM

2014-10-25T18:29:49-04:00

If I may, I am new here but spent over 2 years living in the Philippines and was told many times about the "Bakla" or transgender, you can pick them up at the Bar and get them back to the room and find out what they are, then they will tell you if you don't give them X amount of peso they will call the cops and scream rape. Never been in that boat but a lot of filipinos and pinay have told the same story so it must be true.

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made Oct 25 at 2014 10:33 PM

2014-10-25T22:33:40-04:00

As I remember we weren't that popular in the Philippines back in the early 1900s when the Army was "murdering" Philippine natives while trying to put down the insurrection. Doug helped mend fences during his defense of and upon his return to the islands during WWII. We pulled out of Subic Bay with mixed feelings and now this.

Response by PO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 26 at 2014 6:39 AM

2014-10-26T06:39:10-04:00

First of all, we only have the Visting Forces Agreement (VFA) as far as I know. We no longer have the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) we used to, which gave the U.S. discretionary control of military forces in the P.I. for all offences. The VFA gives the P.I. the discretionary control for validated offences. The agreement also permits U.S. investigators access to all criminal data and investigatory details. While the justice system in the P.I. has a history of being less than scrupulous, the Philippine Government has a lot of good reasons to put pressure on their justices to keep this type of situation on the "up and up" - which is good and bad.

If this Marine did the crime, he should do the time. As mentioned by PO2 Ed C. being in a philippine prison as an american Marine has it's privileges. The Marine should be glad he's not in a Japanese prison for murder. Even though the Japanese justice system is fairly managed, I for one, would not want to stay in their prisons. One sleeps on a concrete block with a concrete pillow. One gets a standard blanket - though U.S. military personnel are provided with special privileges - they get a second blanket. If you want to eat you better hope your family brings food for you, though for U.S. military personnel either the military makes arrangements or the embassy does. Prison is prison.

There's a lot I sense, and has been mentioned elsewhere in this thread, that seems to be going on around this case that is not being openly discussed. Perhaps it will come out, perhaps not. When I was in the Pacific Fleet we used to warn our younger sailors that it might be useful to "check the package before you leave the bar".......

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 26 at 2014 11:11 AM

2014-10-26T11:11:05-04:00

My wife is Filipina, not that that makes me an expert on US-Filipino relations or anything, but... Anyway, when we first heard about the murder, I told her exactly what I thought the situation was and it turned out, to my wife's surprise, that I was correct.

What she tells me is that the population of the Philippines is divided, with many Filipinos understanding why the Marine acted as he did. The other half are angered over it. In that angry half there is an element that will be angry and protest at the drop of hat when the US screws up. They have a love hate relationship with gays and transgender. In television shows and music they are cool with it, but on direct contact no so accepting.

In this particular case, there is another angle. Filipinos accept that people use prostitutes, not that it is right, but just a fact of life. And prostitutes in all societies are not seen in a very wholesome light. Many Filipinos feel it the victim's karmanic due to be murdered, not because he was transgender, but because he cheated on his German boyfriend, who traveled to the Philippines to see him. So it was his lack of loyalty, not his gender status, that has so many against him.