By Rey E. Requejo

THE Filipina who accused US Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith of rape has recanted, saying they might have ?just got carried away? when they had sex inside a parked van in Subic Bay in November 2005.

The admission by the woman, known only as ?Nicole,? who is now in the United States, was likely to help Smith, who has appealed his December 2006 rape conviction, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said last night.

?The lawyers of Smith can ask the Court of Appeals to declare a mistrial,? Gonzalez said when asked about Nicole?s statement, which was submitted to the appellate court on March 12.

The prosecutor may also seek a dismissal of the case, he added.

?She has caused a lot of problems, only to recant,? Gonzalez said. ?This will certainly cast doubt on the case.?

In a sworn statement submitted to the Court of Appeals, Nicole said she ?would rather risk public outrage than do nothing to help ensure that justice is served.?

?I expect... sectors to question my motives in executing this statement more than three years after the incident. However, as I practically grew up interacting with American servicemen in Zamboanga City who treated me and my family very well, and thinking over and over again how I may have conducted myself at the Neptune Club, I can?t help but entertain doubts on whether the sequence of events in Subic last November 2005 really occurred the way the court found them to have happened,? Nicole said.

In a separate two-page manifestation, Smith?s lawyers told the appeals court?s 12th Division that Nicole had terminated the services of her private counsel, Evalyn Ursua, following the settlement of the civil aspect of the case.

Nicole terminated Ursua?s services on the same day she received P100,000 in compensatory damages from smith?s lawyers, and in accordance with the judgment of the Makati Regional Trial Court.

Smith was sentenced to 40 years for rape, and is now detained within the US Embassy in Manila along pending the final decision on his appeal.

In her sworn statement, Nicole said she could have drunk too much that night in 2005, which made her lose her inhibitions at the Neptune Club, where she had met Smith.

?Looking back, I would not have agreed to talk with Daniel Smith and dance with him no less than three times if I did not enjoy his company or was at least attracted to him, since I met him for the very first time on the dance floor of Neptune Club,? she added.

?With the events at the Neptune Club in mind, I keep asking myself, if Daniel Smith wanted to rape me, why would he carry me out of the Neptune Club using the main entrance in full view of the security guard and the other customers? Why would the van park right in front of Neptune Club? Why would Daniel Smith and his companions bring me to the sea wall of Alaba pier and casually leave this area that was well lighted and with many people roaming around? If they believed that I was raped, would they have not dumped me instead in a dimly lit area along the highway going to Alaba pier to avoid detection??

Nicole said she could not have remembered that Smith kissed her lips and neck and held her breast if she was indeed unconscious when Smith carried her to the van.

?Daniel Smith and I were alone on the third row of the van, which had limited space, and I do not recall anyone inside the van who held my hand or any part of my body. What I can recall is that there was very loud music and shouting inside the van,? she said.

Nicole recalled that she was at first very hesitant to board the mobile police car that brought her to headquarters for investigation, not knowing how her mother and boyfriend would react if they learned that she was last seen with Smith, and that a condom was seen on her pants after Smith had left her at the parking lot of the Alaba Pier.

?My conscience continues to bother me, realizing that I may have in fact been so friendly and intimate with Daniel Smith at the Neptune Club that he was led to believe that I was amenable to having sex, or that we simply just got carried away. I would rather risk public outrage than do nothing to help in ensuring that justice is served,? she said.

After executing her sworn affidavit, Nicole also signed a single-page ?receipt and release? document attesting that she received P100,000 from Smith in compensatory damages.

Earlier, Nicole?s departure for the United States caught Justice Department officials by surprise. Gonzalez thought she had gone to see her brother in Italy.

The celebrated rape case has been at the center of political opposition to the country?s visiting forces agreement with the United States.

Smith was earlier allowed to remain in detention inside the US Embassy under the terms of that agreement, which Nicole?s leftist supporters want abrogated.

The Supreme Court last year ruled that a deal to keep smith in US custody violated the terms of the Visiting Forces Agreement, and ordered the administration to begin negotiations to transfer the American serviceman to a Philippine jail.

Ursua, who was at a press conference to launch a movement to dump the Visiting Forces Agreement, confirmed that Nicole had terminated her services and was somewhere in the United States.

She said Nicole gave up the fight after realizing she could not get justice in the Philippines.

The head of the National Union of People?s Lawyers, Neri Colmenares, accused the US and Philippine governments of pressuring Nicole to fire Ursua, calling it a ?subversion? of the justice system.

But Gonzalez denied any government involvement in Nicole?s departure for the United States.

?The problem is, it is always the government being blamed or alluded to,? he said.