Mary Jane Veloso's parents appeal for her transfer to safe PH facility

The parents of Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipino death row inmate in Indonesia, appealed to the Philippine government for her to be transferred to a safe local facility due to concerns over threats coming from the international drug syndicate that implicated her. 

As Indonesia finally confirmed plans to transfer her daughter back to the Philippines, Celia Veloso said she it would be fine with her if Mary Jane will not be directly sent home and has to spend time behind bars in a Philippine facility. 

"Payag na po ako. Gusto ko dahil makakauwi na ang anak ko. Kaya lang, kapag nilipat nila dito, sana do’n siya sa safe na lugar dalhin. ‘Yun talagang safe po siya na wala kaming pinangangambahan. Do’n po nila sana ilagay," Mary Jane's mother said in an Unang Balita interview. 

(I’m okay with that. I’d still want that because it means that my daughter can go home. However, once she is brought here, I hope she’ll be taken to a safe place. I hope she’ll be put in a facility where she’ll be really safe, one we’ll have nothing to fear about.) 

Mary Jane’s father Cesar also expressed apprehension if his daughter will be transferred to a facility in Mandaluyong, recalling threats from her recruiter coming from an international drug syndicate that used her as an unwitting drug courier in Indonesia. 

“Masaya kami kaya lang nangangamba rin kami kung ikukulong pa po diyan sa Maynila. Dapat ikulong nila sa safety ang aking anak dahil ‘yung recruiter niya, nagbitiw sa amin na sila daw ay [kabilang] sa international na sindikato kaya nangangamba rin kami,” Cesar said. 

(We are happy but we are also afraid that she will be imprisoned in Manila. They should detain my daughter in a safe place because her recruiter threatened us saying that they belong to an international syndicate, so we are afraid.) 

"Noong nakulong ang aking anak, sinugod po namin siya (recruiter). [Sabi], 'Wag kayong maingay nanay, tatay dahil kami international na sindikato. Kayang kaya namin ilabas ‘yun, miski magbabayad kami ng P5 milyon, ‘wag lang kayong lalapit sa mga matataas na tao'," he added. 

(When my daughter was imprisoned, we went to the recruiter and she told us not to say anything because they came from an international syndicate. They said they can bring my daughter out by paying P5 million, as long as we don't go to authorities.) 

Convicted of drug trafficking in 2010, Mary Jane has been on death row in Indonesia for over a decade. 

Because the Philippines has no death penalty, it is up to President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos to give Veloso pardon. Another option is to commute Veloso's sentence to life imprisonment.

The camp of Veloso has also appealed to Marcos to grant her clemency following an agreement that would allow her to return to the Philippines.

READ: TIMELINE: Mary Jane Veloso, from OFW dreamer to death row inmate

—KBK, GMA Integrated News