It's tempting to suggest that the US and the Philippines should simply drop all military contact, but that's not so easy: the two countries still need to co-operate in twin wars against terrorism. For years, the Philippines has been a haven for Jemaah Islamiah, a network that covers the arc of a predominantly Muslim region from the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, through Indonesia to Malaysia and southern Thailand.

The record of Islamic terrorism extends from vicious guerilla war waged by the extremist Abu Sayyaf on the islands of Basilan and Jolo, off southwestern Mindanao, to plotting against the US by operatives in Manila under the aegis of masters in the Middle East. At the same time, the ragtag Philippine army has to wage an entirely separate war against the New People's Army, a guerilla force that has been staging a comeback from the main island of Luzon, down through to Mindanao.

The president of the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, has built on the Philippine-American alliance. She recognises the need for a small contingent of US advisers headquartered in Zamboanga, Mindanao, as well as joint exercises by US forces on missions highly limited in scope and duration. The marines caught up in the rape case were on just such a mission. They were drinking before returning to their ship, when they jumped into the van along with the woman during a raucous night on the town.

They were careering through Olongapo, one of the world's raunchiest bar towns when the US Navy still had its base there. That evoked memories of the days when the Americans lorded over the city in cahoots with local politicians and businesspeople.

Mrs Arroyo has battled to preserve the ties she has so carefully cultivated, saying the US and the Philippines will co-operate as before. In Washington, President George W. Bush did not mention the case as he accepted the credentials of a new Philippine ambassador.

The Americans, in the old days of the US bases, were almost automatically turned over to US authorities when accused of crimes on Philippine soil, and hustled far out of reach of local law. Both the US and the Philippines see the case as a test of the Visiting Forces Agreement between the two nations, under which American military people are to be tried in Philippine courts.

The case, however, has devolved into a trial of emotions and nationalism rather than real justice. The 'guilty' marine, Lance Corporal Daniel Smith, is widely viewed - by Filipinos as well as Americans - as a sacrificial lamb. That term is now routinely associated with both the verdict and the sentence meted out by a judge who ignored the testimony of the marines while accepting that of the victim.

There is little doubt that a Filipino, in similar circumstances, would never have had to face trial and, if tried, would never have received such a sentence. The groups who have taken up the crusade against the marines say they are fighting on behalf of all victims of similar and worse crimes. They run the risk, though, of undermining their cause by rallying around a woman making such a dubious charge.

The US and the Philippines may have to co-operate in the global war against terrorism, but the case has opened wounds that cut deeper than any that may have been inflicted during that wild night on shore leave in Olongapo. Americans as well as Filipinos should reconsider US involvement in the Philippines. If young GIs are to face exposure to such emotions, they may need to stay away - or, at least, give up nights on the town in watering holes haunted by memories of a bygone era.

Journalist Donald Kirk is the author of Philippines in Crisis: US Power vs. Local Revolt, and Looted: The Philippines After the Bases