Mary Jane Veloso asks for clemency upon return to Manila

MANILA, Philippines – Mary Jane Veloso, in her first time speaking to the media covering her arrival in her detention facility, appealed to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to grant her clemency.

After being transferred from Jakarta in the early hours of Wednesday, December 18, Veloso arrived in the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) where she was reunited with her family.

Veloso, formerly the only Filipino on Indonesia’s death row, was all smiles as she arrived in the facility. The highly anticipated reunion was an emotional affair, where the Filipina got to embrace her parents, sons, and siblings again.

“Napakasaya ko! Nakauwi na ako dito sa bansa natin,” she said from behind the gate. (I am so happy! I have finally come home to our country.)

“Pakiusap ko sa Pangulo, sana mabigyan na niya ako ng clemency,” she added, which led to her family and supporters’ applause. (I wish to ask the President for clemency.)

Veloso’s parents earlier raised concerns about how CIW is the same facility where her recruiter and alleged trafficker Cristina Sergio is also detained. The Bureau of Corrections has committed to ensuring that they do not see each other. Asked if she felt safe in the facility, Veloso said it was fine, as long as she is granted the clemency she and her family have wished for for so long.

“Okay lang po [ako dito]. Ang importante po mabigyan na po ang clemency para makasama ko na po ang pamilya ko. Fourteen years na po akong nakakulong sa Indonesia, sa kaso na hindi ko ginawa,” she said, her voice breaking, arms around her mother.

(I am okay here. What’s important is the clemency be granted so that I can be with my family. I was detained for 14 years in Indonesia for a crime I did not commit.)

Veloso was found guilty and sentenced to death in 2010 for smuggling drugs into Indonesia, though she has always claimed that she was duped into carrying the suitcase that had a secret stash of heroin. When she was transferred to the Philippines, her sentence was commuted to life, since there is no death penalty in her home country.

Indonesia has given Marcos discretion to grant her clemency. In press conference after Veloso’s arrival in CIW, Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasquez said that she was entitled to all rights and privileges of a person deprived of liberty in the Philippines, including the possibility of presidential pardon or executive clemency.

However, the matter of when the President may grant this is up to the chief executive alone, Vasquez said.

Veloso’s supporters were also outside the CIW rallying for the possible clemency grant.

“Now that Mary Jane is back in her homeland, we are challenging Marcos Jr., to put an end to Mary Jane’s unnecessary suffering and detention here in the Philippines by granting her full and absolute clemency. He cannot stay silent and ignore the Filipino and international clamor for justice for Mary Jane and all victims of human trafficking,” said Josie Pingkihan of Migrante International and the Save Mary Jane Task Force. – Rappler.com