EBF appeals for clemency to Mary Jane Veloso

The Ecumenical Bishops Forum (EBF), a fellowship of Catholic and Protestant bishops, is appealing to the Marcos administration to grant full clemency to Mary Jane Veloso.

Veloso is expected to return to the Philippines from Indonesia soon after a formal agreement on her transfer was reached following a high-level meeting abroad, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The DOJ earlier said it will be up to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. whether Veloso will be granted clemency or not.

"After close to fifteen years of imprisonment, the EBF joins other groups in urging the Philippine Government to grant full clemency to the detained mother of two boys, and now grandmother to one – Mary Jane F. Veloso," the EBF said in a statement on Tuesday.

According to the group, Veloso has long become the symbol of overseas Filipino workers and the myriad of suffering they endure  "at the hands of merciless persons who take liberties of their gullibility while seeking overseas employment".

"We rejoice at the magnanimity of the Indonesian Government and the diplomatic efforts of the Philippine Government. We hope the Philippine Government will complete the joy of the family by extending full clemency to a person vexed so wrongly and for a long time," said the EBF.

"The season of Advent calls for such. She has endured a lot. Lessons from her have been drawn," it added.

Retired bishops Ciriaco Francisco, Joel Tendero, retired Reverends Emelyn Gasco-Dacuycuy, Dindo de la Cruz Ranojo, and Bishop Emeritus Deogracias S. Iniguez, Jr., DD. signed the statement.

Veloso had been detained in Indonesia for 14 years after she was convicted of drug trafficking in 2010. — Sundy Locus/RSJ, GMA Integrated News