Filipino drug convict on death row in Indonesia, Mary Jane Veloso, poses for a photograph at Yogyakarta Women’s Correctional Institution Class IIB in Wonosari, Yogyakarta on December 13, 2024. She told AFP from prison on December 13 that her planned transfer was a “miracle” in her first interview since Manila and Jakarta signed an agreement last week to repatriate her. (Photo by DEVI RAHMAN / AFP)
MANILA, Philippines — Filipina inmate Mary Jane Veloso may be able to return home from Indonesia this week, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Monday.
DFA Undersecretary Eduardo De Vega said while the chance for Veloso’s arrival is likely, it would still depend on the Philippines’ discussions with Indonesia either on Monday night or Tuesday.
“Indonesia will make an announcement later; let’s wait and confirm that she is in Jakarta today. Then, in the next few days, there is a good chance that she will come home,” De Vega said in a Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon briefing.
“We think anytime this week, there is a guarantee that she will be able to come home, but that depends on our conversation tonight or tomorrow,” he added.
According to De Vega, Veloso will be turned over to the Philippines after the Bureau of Corrections and the National Bureau of Investigation visit Jakarta on the evening of December 16 to finalize the arrangement of her transfer.
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 was 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.
READ: PH to honor Indonesia’s conditions in Mary Jane Veloso’s return