believing deniece

in the spirit of sisterhood, i submit that our feminists could be right, deniece could be telling the truth.  the conventional wisdom, after all, is that no woman would cry rape or attempted rape unless it were true, just because it gets hellish and horrible, like leaping from the frying pan into the fire.  the merciless exposure.  the bashing and name-calling.  one’s morality, rather than the perpetrator’s, questioned.  woman’s sexuality debated and exploited and debased.

the problem is, this is no straightforward rape-attempt story.  this one is complicated by the brutal beating of the alleged perpetrator by the girl’s friends who allegedly caught vhong with his pants down.  vhong denies this and it’s hard not to believe him after seeing the cctv footages.  not too long after vhong arrived, deniece left the unit, looking perfectly fine and composed, and it was soon after that lee arrived (followed by his friends) and the beating commenced.

but okay, let’s give her the benefit of the doubt.  let’s say it’s possible that vhong was so horny he dropped his pants right away and tried to get into hers, and she fought back, maybe landed a kick in the groin, and she broke away, fixed herself, and walked calmly to the elevator, in that one-minute (maybe less?) timespan.  medyo mahirap paniwalaan, medyo maliit yung window for benefit of the doubt.  lalo na’t merong bugbugan blues, and you wonder if she was a willing accessory to the beating and alleged extortion.

but, yes, i suppose there is merit in suspending disbelief, not so much for the sake of deniece, but for the sake of the next rape victim who dares cry rape.

Comments

  1. manuel buencamino

    But it would really be bad for the next rape victim if it turns out that Deniece was just making up a story to cover up her participation in the beating and to protect Cedric Lee and co. Maybe the best position feminists is not to take a position until all the facts are out. Illegal detention is a serious charge, it carries no bail so I’m hoping one of the eight charged will crack in exchange for a reduced charge.

  2. Its not a matter of believing or taking sides, what is important is to let justice takes it course. But then again with the kind of justice we had I am not sure we can rely on their decision, LOL.

  3. Rape Victim Assistance and Protection Act of 1998

    Section 5. Protective Measures. – At any stage of the investigation, prosecution and trial of a complaint for rape, the police officer, the prosecutor, the court and its officers, as well as the parties to the complaint shall recognize the right to privacy of the offended party and the accused. Towards this end, the police officer, prosecutor, or the court to whom the complaint has been referred may, whenever necessary to ensure fair and impartial proceedings, and after considering all circumstances for the best interest of the parties, order a closed-door investigation, prosecution or trial and that the name and personal circumstances of the offended party and/or the accused, or any other information tending to establish their identities, and such circumstances or information on the complaint shall not be disclosed to the public.

    The investigating officer or prosecutor shall inform the parties that the proceedings can be conducted in a language or dialect known or familiar to them.

    http://www.lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra1998/ra_8505_1998.html

    No more privacy to speak of now, I guess, since the case still hogs the limelight…

  4. If i were to write about this case, it would be to help people understand the criminal justice system (innocent before prove guilty, etc).

    the lapses in this case are especially striking. i have not read, ANYWHERE, what the correct blotter procedure is, and what makes it correct.

    i have not read ANYWHERE why the NBI took 2 weeks to investigate the actual scene of the crime.

    the he said/she said style of reporting here is baffling, as there are so many more interesting things to report.

  5. comment that made it straight to my inbox: “uh. the spirit of sisterhood shouldn’t ever trump common sense or logic ha. and i challenge that particular piece of conventional wisdom — yes, hellish and horrible if it happened, no argument there — but IF it happened. the accusation was initially *attempted* rape — not rape. until the shit hit the fan and things got serious and suddenly they had to amp up the victimization.

    “and there’s a flip side to the name calling, questioning of morality, and exploitation and debasement of woman’s sexuality — this woman has just pretty much declared herself so desirable, so irresistible that she has reduced a man to his basest and most desperate. in a country where such sexuality is prized more highly as showbiz currency than actual talent, this girl just banked some major cred.

    “a rape accusation is the most powerful thing in any woman’s arsenal in a maria clara/macho culture. dahil maria clara’s can always retreat to catholic upbringing, desirability of innocence, and everything the empowered woman stands against — and the men will be the first to judge other men guilty because innocent in this case or not, capable or not, decent or not, the macho brain is at least capable of thinking what it would be like. to the hypocrite, that’s enough to condemn.

    “but, my god, that name. can we send him to jail for that instead?”

    • Batang-genyo,Alah,eh

      so it seems feminists right is out of the way cause Deniece was DARING as a liberated Maria claria and lowered her Puritanical defenses by inviting Vhong alone in her den….
      unfortunately her shining knight protector discovered her indiscreet behaviour forcing her to be an unwilling partner in crime of passion and violence….