Filipino boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao (R) listens to Mary Jane Veloso (L), a Philippine death row inmate, during his visit to Wirogunan prison in Yogyakarta on July 10, 2015. Veloso was set to face the firing squad in April with several other foreign drug convicts but was granted an 11th hour reprieve by Indonesian President Joko Widodo after a woman suspected of recruiting her was arrested in the Philippines. Veloso was arrested in 2009 with 2.6 kilograms (5.7 pounds) of heroin sewn into the lining of her suitcase and was sentenced to death. AFP PHOTO / SURYO WIBOWO
(UPDATE) Boxing icon and Sarangani Representative Manny Pacquiao finally met Mary Jane Veloso in Indonesia on Friday.
READ: Pacquiao to visit Mary Jane Veloso in Indonesia
“I just came to encourage and support her,” Pacquiao told reporters after meeting Veloso, who is currently on a temporary reprieve after being convicted for drug trafficking and sentenced to death. She is detained at the Wirogunan Penitentiary in Yogyakarta.
Edre Olalia, one of Veloso’s lawyers, said the visit lasted for an hour, from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. (Indonesia time).
“MJ reportedly gave him a craft she made which he wore at once,” Olalia said in a text message to INQUIRER.net.
The Jakarta Post said Veloso gave Pacquiao a blue scarf and a ring with a gemstone. Pacquiao, on the other hand, gave her $3,000. Olalia, who is based in the Philippines, said he was not told about the cash gift.
He said an Indonesian group affiliated with Migrante gave Pacquiao “batik” fabric as a “thank you gift.”
Pacquiao was with his wife Jinkee and Philippine Ambassador to Indonesia Maria Lumen Isletta, other embassy officials, Indonesian lawyers and prosecutors. The group numbered around 20, including officials of the herbal medicine company that brought Pacquiao in Indonesia to shoot a commercial.
In an Instagram post, Pacquiao was seen praying with Jinkee and Veloso
“We are hoping for the Indonesian government to save her life and grant our request,” he told Indonesian reporters.
Pacquiao, said that the Philippine government was still investigating the role of a woman who confessed to having recruited Veloso to become a drug courier. He believed that Veloso was innocent in the case.
“She is the victim of human trafficking,” he said.
Olalia said the scheduled press briefing was cancelled because of the “mayhem” caused by the press and the spectators.
Pacquiao previously told INQUIRER.net that he would visit Veloso between July 8 and 10. He said he would also arrange a meeting with Indonesian President Jokowi Widodo.
READ: Pacquiao thanks Jokowi on maiden Indonesia visit
Pacquiao is in Indonesia to shoot a commercial for an energy drink firm PT Sido Muncul.
Veloso was among nine death row inmates scheduled to be executed in April this year for drug trafficking charges. She was arrested with 2.6 kilograms of heroin at Adisucipto International Airport in Yogyakarta in 2010.
The Indonesian government decided to grant her a temporary reprieve from execution after a woman who allegedly recruited Veloso to act as a drug courier gave herself up to police in the Philippines.
(Originally posted at 11:03 a.m.)