DAVAO CITY — The Philippine government is exerting all efforts to save sentenced Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) Mary Jane Veloso from the death row.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. who just arrvied in Indonesia for the 42nd ASEAN Summit guaranteed that the Philippines will continue to ask Indonesian government to grant pardon to Veloso.
The meeting happened at the sidelines of President’s state visit to the country.
In a statement released by the Office of the Presidential Spokesperson, it that Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi would consult their Ministry of Justice on the matter.
Veloso, a domestic helper was arrested in 2010 after Indonesian authorities found 2.6 kilos of heroin worth $500,0000 or approximately over P28-million, inside her luggage when she arrived in said country to work as domestic helper.
The OFW from Nueva Ecija professed innocence about the illegal drugs as she said her recruiter was the once who prepared the luggae for her to carry.
She told the court that the luggage she used was only given to her by her recruiters, Maria Cristina Sergio and Julius Lacanilao.
The Indonesian court sentenced her to death penalty in October 2010 and was scheduled to be executed by firing squad in April 2015. However, she was granted a last-minute reprieve through a stay of execution, so she can stand as a witness in the human trafficking case against her recruiter Kristina Sergio, and against Sergio’s partner Julius Lacanilao.
Veloso, who is now 37 years old, is currently detained at the Wonosari Women’s Penitentiary in Yogyakarta and is in “relatively good health,” the DFA said.
Marcos is the third President of the Philippines to appeal for clemency to spare Veloso from the death row.
In August 2011, former President Benigno Aquino III submitted an appeal for clemency on behalf of Veloso to his Indonesian counterpart, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
When incumbent Indonesian President Joko Widodo was first elected in 2014, he declared war against drug trafficking and rejected all the clemency requests from drug convicts on death row.
In January 2015, he rejected all clemency appeals, including Veloso’s.
In September 2016, former President Rodrigo Duterte who met Widodo told reporters he talked to Widodo about Veloso’s case “in a most respectful and in a very, very courteous way” but added “If my pleadings will fall on deaf ears, I am ready to accept it,”
IN Septemebr 2022, when Marcos Jr. first visited Indonesia for a three-day state visit, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo formally requested to his counterpart that an executive clemency be granted to Veloso.
On Tuesday, shortly after arriving in Indonesia to attend the 42nd ASEAN Summit, Marcos was asked about the case of Veloso in a media interview.
“The Indonesians answer us that this is the law,” the President said. “Ito ang batas sa Indonesia and kailangan nating ipatupad iyan and they’ve aready give us postponement but that doesn’t mean it’s done.”
The President said he will bring the matter in the hope the decision will change “I always at least bring it up baka sakaling magbago. Sa ngayon ganyan ang position natin,” he added.-Editha Z. Caduaya
