Mary Jane Veloso coming home, says Marcos

Mary Jane Veloso, the Filipino woman facing execution in Indonesia for drug trafficking, is coming home, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said on Wednesday.

In a statement, Marcos said an agreement has been reached with Indonesian authorities to bring Veloso, who was arrested in 2010, back to the Philippines.

“Arrested in 2010 on drug trafficking charges and sentenced to death, Mary Jane’s case has been a long and difficult journey,” Marcos said.

“After over a decade of diplomacy and consultations with the Indonesian government, we managed to delay her execution long enough to reach an agreement to finally bring her back to the Philippines.” 

Marcos thanked Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and the whole Indonesian government for their goodwill and said that the recent development is a reflection of the two countries' partnership to justice and compassion.

“Mary Jane’s story resonates with many: a mother trapped by the grip of poverty, who made one desperate choice that altered the course of her life. While she was held accountable under Indonesian law, she remains a victim of her circumstances,” he said.

“Thank you, Indonesia. We look forward to welcoming Mary Jane home,” he added.

Last week, Indonesia’s Coordinating Ministry for Legal, Human Rights, Immigration, and Correction (Kemenko Kumham Imipas) said it is considering the option of “transfer of prisoner” or prisoner transfer for foreign inmates, including Veloso, as part of constructive diplomacy.

This was discussed during a meeting with Philippine Ambassador Gina Alagon Jamoralin where Coordinating Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra emphasized that Indonesia upholds legal sovereignty and is committed to enforcing the criminal sanctions imposed by the courts. 

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is hoping that Veloso may be able to come home to the Philippines by Christmas.

“Although hindi pa ito nafa-finalize, ipagdasal natin na matapos na ito na sana by Christmas makauwi na si Mary Jane…We pray that it will be totally a success at hindi ito ma-delay pa para umabot sana, wala akong pangako, pero sana umabot by Christmas,” DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said in government-run Radyo Pilipinas.

(Although it has not been finalized yet, let's pray that it will be completed by Christmas and Mary Jane will be able to return to the Philippines...We pray that it will be totally a success and that it will not be delayed. I am not promising anything but hopefully she’s back in the Philippines by Christmas.)

For its part, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said it stood in unity with Marcos “in showing the world once more that nobody gets left out under the Bagong Pilipinas administration, where every life is safeguarded and respected regardless of status.” 

Veloso was convicted of drug trafficking after she was caught with 2.6 kilos of heroin in Yogyakarta and was given the death sentence.

Veloso has since been asserting her innocence, saying she was just a victim of human trafficking.

The Philippine government has repeatedly appealed to the Indonesian government to grant Veloso clemency.

In 2015, then-Indonesian President Joko Widodo said their government gave Veloso a “temporary reprieve” from her scheduled execution in relation to alleged human trafficking.

A human trafficking case and large-scale illegal recruitment cases were filed against Veloso's alleged traffickers Julius Lacanilao and Cristina Sergio in a Nueva Ecjia court.

In 2020, a guilty verdict on the illegal recruitment case was handed down on the recruiters but the trafficking case is still pending.

In January this year, Veloso’s family sent letters to Marcos and Jokowi to appeal for her clemency.

In a statement on X, lawyer Edre Olalia, one of Veloso's counsel, appealed to Marcos to grant her clemency following the agreement allowing her to return home to the Philippines.

“Even as we continue to pray that Mary Jane will really step foot back in our homeland soon, we call on President Marcos Jr. to accord her immediate clemency on humanitarian grounds and as a matter of justice,” said Olalia. —with Joahna Lei Casilao/KBK, GMA Integrated News