Marcos on Mary Jane Veloso’s return to PH: ‘We’re celebrating already’

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is already looking forward to the homecoming of convicted overseas Filipino worker Mary Jane Veloso after being detained in Indonesia for more than a decade.

“We’re celebrating already,” Marcos told reporters on the sidelines of the inauguration of the Department of Migrant Workers’ Bagong Pilipinas One-Stop OFW AKSYON Center.

The Philippine government on Monday announced that Veloso will be able to spend Christmas again with her family as she is expected to land in Manila on early Wednesday, December 18.

Malacañang said Veloso’s homecoming is “the fruit of more than a decade of persistent discussions, consultations and diplomacy.”

In January, Veloso’s family sent letters to then Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Marcos to appeal her clemency.

Last November, Marcos said  Manila and Jakarta reached an agreement to transfer Veloso to the Philippines, thanking new Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and his government for their goodwill.

Led by Department of Foreign Affairs undersecretary Eduardo de Vega, Philippine officials have also arrived in Indonesia early Tuesday morning for her turnover.

Bureau of Corrections Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr. confirmed that Veloso will be brought straight to the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City once she lands in the Philippines.

Veloso will make her homecoming just in time for Christmas on Wednesday, December 18, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Monday. 

DFA Undersecretary Tess Lazaro said that Veloso’s expected time of departure from Jakarta, Indonesia is at 12:50 a.m. and she will land in Manila at 6 a.m. —RF, GMA Integrated News