Filipino woman storms out of US Marines' trial

MANILA, June 8 (Reuters) - A Filipino woman who has accused four US Marines of rape stormed out of a Manila courtroom today as a witness told how he saw her dumped on the pavement after the alleged sexual attack in a van.

The Marines, being detained by the US embassy, deny the charges filed in December, saying only one of them had sex with the woman and that it was consensual.

The case has put the spotlight on Manila's close relationship with Washington, with critics arguing that a Visiting Forces Agreement gives US soldiers too much protection.

But it has prompted only small protests and is not expected to hurt ties between the Philippines and its former colonial ruler. US troops routinely conduct drills with local units and advise them in tactics against Muslim and communist rebel groups.

The woman sobbed when Joseph Khongbun, a businessman, told the court two of the Marines carried a disoriented woman from the van in Subic Bay, a former U.S. navy base north of Manila.

''The tall American was holding her leg while the smaller one was holding her by the arm,'' Khongbun said, adding he was about four feet (1.2 metres) away when the two men put her down on the pavement.

Khongbun said the woman's pants were around her knees and a condom was sticking out of her underwear.

At that point, the woman ran out of the room crying.

Lance Corporals Dominic Duplantis, Keith Silkwood and Daniel Smith and Staff Sergeant Chad Carpentier -- part of a Marine unit based in Okinawa, Japan, that had been on two weeks of exercises with Philippine troops -- sat silently through the hearing.

Prosecutors said two police officers who helped the woman after she was left on the pavement would corroborate Khongbun's testimony when they took the witness stand tomorrow.

The case is expected to finish by August with hearings four times a week. The prosecution will present 40 witnesses, while the defence plans less than a dozen to testify in favour of the four Marines.

REUTERS KD ND1606