PH to honor Indonesia’s conditions in Mary Jane Veloso’s return

Photo of Mary Jane Veloso taken on November 20, 2024. Picture courtesy of JARINGAN TOLAK HUKUMAN MATI (ANTI CAPITAL PUNISHMENT NETWORK)

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is “bound to honor” the conditions set by Indonesia in allowing the transfer of Mary Jane Veloso back to the country, including the serving of her sentence, the national government said Thursday.

However, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the conditions for Veloso’s transfer are still being discussed.

READ: Mary Jane Veloso is coming home to the Philippines – Marcos

“We are bound to honor the conditions that would be set for the transfer, particularly the service of sentence by Mary Jane in the Philippines, save the death penalty which is prohibited under our laws,” the DOJ and the DFA said in a joint statement.

“The conditions for the transfer of Ms. Mary Jane Veloso are still being discussed with Indonesia,” it added.

On Wednesday, when President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced that the Philippine and Indonesian governments agreed to bring Veloso back to Manila after 10 years of diplomacy and consultation regarding her case.

Veloso was arrested in 2010 at Adisucipto International Airport in Yogyakarta after she was found in possession of more than 2.6 kilograms of heroin.

She, however, maintained that she was unaware of the contents of her luggage as it was only given by her recruiters, identified as Julius Lacanilao and Maria Cristina Sergio.

Veloso was then sentenced to death, but was spared in 2015 after Philippine officials asked then-Indonesian President Joko Widodo to allow her to testify against members of a human and drug-smuggling syndicate in Manila.