Another Filipina, hidden in the name of Vanessa, surfaced and claimed that she was raped by a US serviceman who is part of the Visiting Forces Agreement. According to her, a certain John Jones raped her inside a hotel in Makati City.

The surfacing of Vanessa, according to her, is a part of her healing process and voicing her case to public so that to prevent another incident from happening again.

The Legacy of Nicole

Vanessa hid her face while reading her prepared statement in front of the media. She said that she has no intention of filing a case against John Jones.

This is the result of the Subic Rape Case fiasco. Filipina women who were raped by US servicemen were forced to stray hidden since they will be branded as another Nicole. The result of that rape case also created a distrust in the Judiciary System when it comes to cases against American soldiers.

Thanks to Nicole, genuine rape victims of US soldiers had to contend in darkness and suffer from injustice.

Part of the Bigger Problem

Vanessa’s rape case, if true, is just the manifestation of the raping of the Philippines by the US due to the un-equal VFA. The agreement is biased toward the US and its provisions make it hard for the Filipino people to prosecute and punish those American soldiers who did criminal acts inside our territory.

Her rape is also a part of our tendency not to stand for our fellowmen against foreign governments. Soldiers of the American Government, since they stepped on our country, raped and abused many Filipinas. Accounts of rape during the Philippine-American war is not lacking and up until now the American Government did not issue any official statement seeking forgiveness for their brutality during that war.

Finally, her rape case is a part the continued deprivation of rights for the Filipina. Every day, a Filipina is being raped either by a stranger or by the immediate member of her family. Every day, disrespect toward the Filipina is being propagated in the media and in the public, creating a social atmosphere that is open for the abuse of the Filipina women. Tabloids and even broadsheets are filled with stories like Vanessa’s case (and sometimes even worse) that it is sickening already. US soldiers can rape our women simply because many of us ignore the rape cases that is around us. Do we really care for the Filipina women?

It is time for us to stand for the Filipina. Let us make rape history.

Fatal error: Call to undefined function p75HasVideo() in /homepages/39/d169067170/htdocs/voices/wp-content/themes/NewFV/single-fvdaily.php on line 57