Manny Pacquiao. AFP FILE PHOTO
Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao is scheduled to visit convicted drug courier Mary Jane Veloso in prison in Indonesia Friday morning, a migrant workers’ group said on Thursday.
In a statement, Migrante International said its affiliate in Indonesia, Jaringan Buruh Migran Indonesia (JBMI), confirmed the visit of Pacquiao, who arrived in Yogyakarta with his wife, Jinkee, on Tuesday.
According to the Indonesian group, Pacquiao’s letter-request to meet with Veloso at 8 a.m. (Indonesian time) on Friday is still being processed by the Indonesian authorities.
It will be a short visit, as he is scheduled to go back to Jakarta at 10 a.m., Migrante said.
“The JBMI and supporters of Mary Jane in Indonesia are preparing to give ‘batiks’ to Pacquiao and Jinkee as ‘pasalubong’ (welcome present) and as a ‘thank you gift’ for continuing to support the #SaveMaryJane campaign,” Migrante said.
A few days before Veloso’s scheduled execution by firing squad, Pacquiao made a heartfelt plea to Indonesian President Joko Widodo to spare her life.
Veloso got her last-minute reprieve after suspected drug traffickers who recruited her surrendered to the Philippine authorities.
The militant group welcomed the resolution of the Department of Justice (DOJ) approving the filing of criminal charges of illegal recruitment, estafa and human trafficking against Veloso’s recruiters Kristina “Tintin” Sergio and Julius Lacanilao.
Assistant State Prosecutor Susan Azarcon on Thursday recommended that Sergio and Lacanilao be charged in court for illegally recruiting Veloso to Malaysia, eventually leading to her arrest in Indonesia while unknowingly carrying 2.6 kilos of heroin in April 2010.
“The ruling should be a strong concrete support for the appeal for permanent reprieve as it strengthens it even more, since we have something from the judicial process to hold on to in addition to the credible and consistent testimony of Mary Jane corroborated by other witnesses and evidence,” said Veloso’s lawyer Edre Olalia, secretary-general of the National Union of People’s Lawyers .
Olalia described the DOJ decision as “quite a long road to justice.”
Veloso, who was initially lured to a “nonexistent” job as domestic helper in Malaysia, remains incarcerated at the Wirongunan Prison in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, fighting her drug conviction.–With a report from Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon