Duterte to respect Indonesia’s decision on Mary Jane Veloso

DAVAO CITY – President Duterte said on Monday he would ask mercy for Mary Jane Veloso, who has been in death row in Indonesia for drug trafficking for years now.

“I may just have to ask (Indonesian President Joko) Widodo in a most respectful and in a very, very courteous way,”  Duterte said in a press conference before leaving for the Asean Summit in Laos on Monday afternoon.

“And if my pleadings will fall on deaf ears, I am ready to accept it for the simple reason that I do not doubt the judicial system of Indonesia. I have been there once upon a time and was able to observe how it works,” Duterte said.

“I might just accept the system and plead for mercy,” the President added.

But if President Widodo would deny  Duterte’s plea for mercy, the Philippine President said he would still be “grateful that she has been treated very well.”

“For after all we have our laws to follow. If it had been the other way around, I might also be at the receiving end of so many pleas for mercy and I would never know what or how to react,”  Duterte said. SFM/rga

Mary Jane Veloso AP