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AGAINST all odds, the fight for
justice goes on for “Hazel,” the 22-year old Filipina who was
allegedly raped by a US serviceman in Okinawa, Japan in February.
“Based on
Hazel’s accounts and medical records, she was really raped,”
said Gabriela Womens party-list Rep. Liza Maza, who went on a
mission to Okinawa to assist Hazel.
“Hazel is
determined to fight; she is strong and dignified because of the
support that she is getting from the Filipino community there,”
she added.
The Gabriela-led
Okinawa mission team is composed of Maza, Gabriela’s Lana Linaban
and Cherry Padilla, Butch Pongos of Migrante Japan, and Hazel’s
mother, Nanay Melly. They flew to Japan on July 16 to investigate on
Hazel’s case and stir support for the Filipina.
Hazel was
supposed to work as a dancer, but the team argued that she was made
to do more by sitting and going out with customers.
Japanese police
reports have it that the Filipina was invited by the US Serviceman
around 2 a.m. on February 18. Hazel’s father later revealed to GMA
news that her daughter noticed her pants was soaked in blood upon
her going to the comfort room.
The Okinawa team
found out that though Honorary Consul Ako Alarcon of the Philippine
Consulate in Okinawa knew of Hazel’s case when the Pinay
victim was hospitalized after the reported rape incident, the
government failed to provide immediate legal counsel during the
investigation to determine if there was probable cause for the case.
”Hazel
was alone back then and she had no knowledge of the legal system in
Japan being a first-timer overseas Filipino worker. She hardly knows
anyone because she just arrived in Japan just three days before the
rape incident happened,” Maza said.
As of press time,
Maza noted that the case is still under investigation of the US
Military Court, thus, the suspect is yet to be slapped with charges.
The findings will be released in a month’s time.
The case was
dismissed by the Japan military court on May 16 due to lack of
evidence, but the Department of Foreign Affairs has submitted the
necessary documents for the US military court’s investigation.
---Llanesca Panti
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