De Lima confident Indonesia will spare Veloso after Ramadan

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima is confident that the Indonesian government will not include Mary Jane Veloso in its list of people to be executed after the end of Ramadan.

De Lima said she believed Indonesia would honor its commitment to respect the legal processes of the Philippines.

Earlier, Migrante International expressed fear that the Indonesian government would announce the complete names of those scheduled to be executed by firing squad on July 17 or after the end of Ramadan.

They said the list may include Veloso.

“Wala tayong ganong feedback and I am confident,” De Lima said.

“It is really more of a comity, the mutual respect of Philippines and Indonesia. We trust that they will stay true in respecting our legal processes because that would not look good on them,” she told reporters.

She said the Department of Justice was set to inform the Indonesia government of the latest update on Veloso’s complaint against her alleged recruiters Ma. Cristina Sergio and Julius Lacanilao.

“I saw the draft communications addressed to the Attorney General and the Minister of Law and Human Rights updating them of these very important developments and responding to some of their queries and requests,” she said.

The DOJ has filed before the Talavera Regional Trial Court qualified trafficking, illegal recruitment and estafa cases against Sergio and Lacanilao.

De Lima said she was hoping that the latest development in the case would help convince the Indonesian authorities not to execute Veloso.

“Remember, what we’ve been able to get so far is a temporary reprieve,” she said.