Mary Jane Veloso home soon? Mom hopeful but wary

Mary Jane Veloso —Photo courtesy of Veloso family

GEN. NATIVIDAD, NUEVA ECIJA, Philippines — The mother of Mary Jane Veloso, the overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who has been on death row in Indonesia for over 14 years following her conviction for drug trafficking, is hopeful that ongoing talks between Philippine and Indonesian officials to come up with a “mutually agreed solution” to her case will allow her to finally come home.

But at the same time, Celia is also wary that her daughter will still be put behind bars upon her return to the country.

“If they are just transferring her to be imprisoned here in the Philippines, it will not be right because they know Mary Jane is an innocent victim,” Celia said in an interview on Saturday.

The Department of Foreign Affairs earlier confirmed the ongoing talks, with Foreign Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega telling reporters, “We’re doing all we can,” following reports the Indonesian government was considering sending Veloso home to serve her remaining prison sentence in the country.

READ: DFA: Legal documents on Mary Jane Veloso case sent to Jakarta

“Certainly, the Indonesians and the Filipinos have been talking about [Veloso’s case] for some time, and we hope that we’ll come out with a mutually agreed solution, which will be to the utmost benefit of Miss Veloso and her family,” De Vega said on Friday.

Agenda in meeting

“We’re hopeful that we can announce something positive soon,” he added.

According to an article published by Indonesian newspaper Kompas, Veloso’s case was on the agenda in a recent meeting between Philippine Ambassador to Indonesia Gina Jamoralin and Coordinating Minister Yusril Mahendra of the Indonesian Ministry for Law, Human Rights and Immigration.

At the meeting, the Indonesian government reportedly considered the possibility of transferring Veloso to serve her sentence in the Philippines.

In a statement on Nov. 11, the ministry quoted Mahendra as saying that Indonesia “upholds legal sovereignty and is committed to enforcing the criminal sanctions imposed by the courts.”

Considering prisoner transfer for foreign inmates in line with a request from their home country is part of “constructive diplomacy,” the ministry explained.

The statement also noted that once the transfer was completed, the rehabilitation of the prisoners, as well as decisions on whether to grant remission or clemency, would all be “handed over to the respective country.”

Veloso’s recruiters

Celia, however, reiterated her daughter’s innocence as she cited the January 2020 conviction of Veloso’s recruiters Cristina Sergio and Julius Lacanilao for large-scale illegal recruitment by the Sto. Domingo, Nueva Ecija Regional Trial Court based on complaints filed by their other victims.

The recruiters, who were sentenced to life imprisonment, also face a separate complaint filed by Veloso. She claimed that Sergio and Lacanilao, her neighbors in Nueva Ecija, recruited her for a job in Malaysia in 2010. But when she got to Malaysia, Sergio told her the job was no longer available and sent her to Indonesia on vacation.

On April 25 that year, Veloso was apprehended at Adisucipto International Airport in Yogyakarta, after authorities found over 2.6 kilograms of heroin in her luggage. Veloso said she was unaware of the presence of the drugs as the luggage had been given to her by Sergio.

In October, Veloso was sentenced to death by the district court of justice of Sleman in Yogyakarta, a penalty upheld by Indonesia’s Supreme Court in May 2011.

Repeated appeals by then President Benigno Aquino III were turned down in December 2014 by Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

Execution stayed

On April 29, 2015, Veloso was scheduled to be executed by firing squad. But an indefinite stay of execution was granted at the last minute after Philippine authorities informed their Indonesian counterparts that her recruiters had surrendered and were in the custody of law enforcers.

Celia said her daughter deserves to come home to Nueva Ecija.

Having Veloso by her side and reunited with her sons is the wish of the ailing 65-year-old who has been confined in the hospital twice for various ailments.

Veloso’s sons, now 22 and 17, were just 8 and 3 years old when she left the country to find a better future for her family.

For the time being, the prospect that the Philippine government may grant her daughter clemency is keeping Celia upbeat.

“It would give me great joy. It would be so good if that happens because that is what we have been hoping for, for a very long time,” she said.

She and her husband, Cesar, along with Veloso’s sons, are set to leave for Indonesia on Dec. 15 to visit their daughter.

“I really, really want to tell my daughter to stay strong. It won’t be long now before we will all be together again. Her freedom is all I wish for,” Celia said.

Victim of human trafficking

Migrant advocacy organization Migrante International, meanwhile, urged President Marcos to grant Veloso clemency on humanitarian grounds since she was a victim of human trafficking.

Citing a recent hearing on Veloso’s case, the group said the Nueva Ecija Regional Trial Court had asked state counsel Nancy Lozano to provide proof it was coordinating with the Indonesian government after a scheduled bilateral meeting in October did not push through.

Lozano reportedly said that because of a change of administration in Indonesia, they were awaiting the appointment of a new chief for the Ministry of Law.

“Marcos Jr. must therefore continue to exert all efforts to obtain Mary Jane’s deposition as soon as possible to establish legally through the Philippine regional trial court in Nueva Ecija that Mary Jane is a victim of human trafficking. Mary Jane and her family have been fighting to hold her traffickers accountable in court for the last nine years and they deserve full justice,” Migrante said. —with a report from Inquirer Research