OLONGAPO CITY — For the first time, five of the six American Marines accused of raping a 22-year-old Filipino woman on Nov. 1 in Subic have denied the charge.

“No such crime occurred. At no instance, in any point in time, did I have sex, forcibly or otherwise, with [the woman],” said Staff Sgt. Chad Brian Carpentier, 27, in his 10-page counter-affidavit filed Wednesday by his lawyer Francisco Rodrigo Jr.

Corp. Corey Burris and Lance Corporals Dominic Duplantis, Keith Silkwood and Albert Lara also filed their affidavits Wednesday through their lawyers Emmanuel Peña, John Coluso and Jose Justiniano, respectively.

Like Carpentier, the four servicemen denied raping the woman. All asked the Olongapo prosecutor’s office to dismiss the complaint.

It was the first time since the alleged rape that the five servicemen issued official statements. They are being held by the U.S. Embassy.

Benjamin Formoso, counsel for the sixth Marine, Daniel Smith, said he did not file Smith’s affidavit because the evidence from the woman’s lawyers were being filed on “a piecemeal basis.”

According to Filipino driver Timoteo Soriano Jr., another accused, it was Smith whom his colleagues were prodding to abuse the woman.

Olongapo City Prosecutor Prudencio Jalandoni gave Soriano’s lawyer, Raul Paras, until Dec. 9 to file the driver’s counter-affidavit.

The lawyers of the respondents and the complainant have until Dec. 14 to file their memoranda on the case. Jalandoni and Assistant Prosecutor Raymond Viray need these documents before issuing a resolution on the complaint.

Carpentier’s account

Carpentier, the oldest and most senior in rank of the accused, said in his affidavit that at about 9:50 p.m. on Nov. 1, he left the USS Essex with Gunnery Sgt. Paul Taylor to look for something to eat.

He said he and Taylor rode in a dark green nine-passenger van provided by the U.S. Marine Corps for their transportation that was driven by Soriano.

Carpentier said he was going around the Subic port to make sure that everyone in his platoon was back at the ship by curfew.

“I continued to round up the members of my platoon and steered them to the van. When I finally got to the van, I saw Silkwood and Duplantis there. The driver, Soriano, however, could not be found. As I turned around toward the club to find him, I saw Soriano come out of the club. It was then that I noticed Smith with the Filipino girl that was with him,” Carpentier said.

‘No force’

When they reached the front gate of the wharf leading to the ship, he said the van stopped right at the gate.

He added: “I disembarked from the van and whipped open the doors yelling, ‘Let’s go, let’s go!’ As the men were getting out, I noticed the Filipino girl was also getting out of the van. I vaguely recall someone saying, ‘Say goodbye to your bitch,’ to which the Filipino girl replied, ‘I am not a bitch. Don’t say that.’”

Carpentier said he was back at the ship at around 1 a.m.

He said the woman’s claim that she had been sexually abused by only one U.S. soldier negated her charge that she was gang-raped.

He also said the woman “voluntarily boarded the van with Smith.”

Carpentier denied that the woman was carried out of the van and dumped on the sidewalk like a pig.

“The circumstances alleged are implausible under the circumstances considering that the place where the complainant was supposed to have been dumped like a pig was very lit and there was a good number of U.S. Marines and locals in the area,” he said.

In his own counter-affidavit, Burris said that about 8 p.m. on Nov. 1, he left the USS Essex with Lara, his designated buddy.

He said he danced and hung out with Lara at Dewey’s Club at around 9 p.m., and proceeded to Neptune Bar where they saw Silkwood, Smith and Duplantis.

At 11:30 p.m., Burris said, Carpentier arrived at the bar with Soriano.

They went back to their ship, buying a pizza along the way, Burris said. The lawyers presented the receipt for their pizza as proof.

Burris said that he and Lara ran back to their ship at around 11:55 p.m., and that at about midnight, both of them officially signed in.

‘Not drunk’

Duplantis said that on Nov. 1, he was with Smith and Silkwood when he went to Dewey’s Bar.

He said he joined a separate group of Marines and sang and danced with some Filipino girls.

“I recall Smith, Burris, Lara and several others from the ship. I was not drunk though I did have about four [bottles of] beer,” he said.

At about 10 p.m., he said, he, along with Smith and Silkwood, took a cab to Neptune.

They “danced and stayed” at Neptune until 11:30 p.m., “when Carpentier arrived and began rounding us up in order to make curfew,” he said, adding:

“When I got into the van, I saw Smith in the back seat with a Filipino girl, whom I later found out to be the complainant. Silkwood sat in the middle seat behind the driver and Carpentier who were in the front seat. I sat in the middle seat beside Silkwood.”

Duplantis said that when he got into the van, Smith and the woman were “kissing, giggling and fooling around.”

“I had never seen the complainant before and she appeared alert, talkative and not distressed,” he said.

He added that he did not hear any disturbance, arguing or complaining from Smith or the woman.

Silkwood also denied raping the woman or witnessing a gang rape.

He said the statements of the woman and the witnesses were “lies and half-truths, meant to prop up and strengthen the fabricated charges” against him.