MANILA, Philippines?(UPDATE 2) ?Nicole,? who American Marine Daniel Smith was convicted of raping, has decided to leave her painful past behind and start a new life with her American boyfriend of two years, her mother said.

?She decided that it?s time to move on,? Nicole?s mother told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net) on Tuesday over the phone.

?It?s been so difficult for us. We?ve been suffering for so long ? for three years now ? and the attention of the media continues. Our lives haven?t moved. And we?re so tired.?

The mother refused to say where exactly Nicole, now 24, went, although lawyer Evalyn Ursua told reporters her former client had flown to the United States ?for good.?

At the launching of the ?Junk VFA Movement? earlier Tuesday, Ursua said Nicole had terminated her services and quoted her former client?s mother as saying Nicole decided to leave because she had become ?tired of the case and do not want anymore to be bothered by it because 'there is no justice in the Philippines.'"

All Nicole?s mother would say was that she saw her daughter off sometime this month at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport to board a flight ?to another country,? and that Nicole traveled alone.

?She was happy. It?s like she?s not coming back,? said the mother, whose three other children are also working overseas.

The mother said Nicole left to be with an American man she had met in her native Zamboanga City through family friends.

The couple has been together for two years, or roughly soon after Smith?s conviction.

During the trial, Nicole had admitted in open court being in a relationship with Okinawa-based US Marine Brian Goodrich at the time of the November 2005 rape, and that they broke up soon after.

The mother begged off naming her daughter?s beau, and laughed when asked if he was also in the military.

?While [the appeal] is going on, he comforted her...His parents also came here. He knows what happened,? the mother said.

She said Nicole?s boyfriend had long been ?inviting? her to stay with him, and that the family had discussed Nicole?s wish to leave the country.

She also said her daughter had worked on the processing of her US visa for a long time.

?We hope the public will understand this decision.? the mother said. ?We hope our wish will be respected. We want a new life, to live peacefully.?

Asked if the family had any discussion with Smith?s lawyer or US Embassy officials, the mother said: ?We are just exhausted.?

As to about Smith?s pending appeal and his continued detention at the US Embassy, which Nicole had fought for years, the mother said: ?We are no longer interested. We leave Smith to God. That?s no longer under our control.?

The mother also said there was no bad blood between her family and Ursua, and that Nicole had decided to drop the lawyer as private counsel only because of her decision to leave the country.

?I am thankful to her [Ursua]. I hope she can accept it. This is only so we can move on,? she said.

Ursua had been Nicole?s counsel since February 2006, a year after the Filipina accused Lance Corporal Daniel Smith of raping her in the Subic Freeport, a former American military facility.

Smith was convicted in 2007 and sentenced to up to 40 years in prison.

But his continued detention at the US embassy has sparked controversy and gave rise to calls for the abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement, which the US government has cited in justifying its action.

The VFA governs the conduct of US and Filipino troops in joint exercises dubbed ?Balikatan? (shoulder-to-shoulder).

Ursua said Nicole?s mother gave her a letter signed by her client informing her that her services were no longer needed and that she wanted "all other cases arising from or related" to the rape case dropped.

Ursua said she tried to call Nicole but could not contact her.

"While I have ceased to be Nicole's lawyer, I, as a citizen who loves this country, remain committed to the cause of obtaining justice in Nicole's case and putting an end to the iniquitous Visiting Forces Agreement," said Ursua.

"The 'Nicole' that and the other lawyers represented was beyond the woman that Nicole and her family thought she was. 'Nicole' is every Filipino woman who was and will be raped by American soldiers. ?Nicole? can happen again. And so the fight against the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and the presence of US troops in the country must continue," Ursua said.

At a press conference, Senator Ana Consuelo Madrigal said that ?perhaps there was a deal [that was] too good to refuse,? reacting to ?Nicole's? decision to terminate her lawyer's services.