Marcos on Veloso clemency: 'Malayo pa tayo doon'

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Thursday said that the possibility of granting Mary Jane Veloso clemency is still "far off." 

“Malayo pa tayo doon. We still have to look at really what their status is,” Marcos said in an ambush interview.

(We're not there yet.)

“[W]ala namang condition na binigay ang Indonesia, so it’s really up to us. But we’re still at the very preliminary stage of her pag uwi,” he later added.

(Indonesia did not give any conditions.)

Veloso arrived in the Philippines on early Wednesday after the Indonesian government agreed to transfer her custody. 

She has been jailed in Indonesia for almost 15 years due to drug trafficking.

Before her flight to Manila, Veloso expressed hope that she will be given clemency.

“Gusto ko na makalaya ako… Clemency... mapawalang sala. Kasi wala akong kasalanan,” Veloso said before she left Indonesia. 

(I want to be free... Clemency... be found without guilt. I am innocent.)

Her family also expressed hope that it will be granted. 

Marcos said he will trust the judgment of the government’s legal experts regarding a possible clemency.

“We will leave it to the legal judgment of the — the judgment of our legal experts to determine whether the provision of clemency is appropriate,” he said.

Veloso's case caused an outcry in the Philippines. She was spared execution in 2015 at the last moment after Philippine officials asked Joko Widodo, then Indonesia's president, to let her testify against members of a human- and drug-smuggling ring.

Indonesia has said that it would respect any decision made by the Philippines, including if Veloso will be given clemency.

—VAL, GMA Integrated News