PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. yesterday said the death sentence meted out by an Indonesian court on Filipino drug convict Mary Jane Veloso has been reduced to life imprisonment, and the Philippine government is now studying a clemency grant after Veloso is transferred back to Manila where she is supposed to serve the rest of her sentence.
The President on Wednesday announced Veloso, who has been in detention for around 14 years now, is coming home following an arrangement reached between the two countries.
In an ambush interview yesterday in Nueva Ecija, Marcos said the commutation of Veloso’s sentence happened under the term of former President Joko Widodo.
“Since I came into office, what we’ve been trying to do, what we were working on was to take her out of death row, first, then to commute her sentence to life,” he said in mixed English and Filipino.
The President said the good relationship between Manila and Jakarta, which carried over from Widodo’s term to current President Prabowo Subianto, paved the way for the transfer of custody of Veloso.
Veloso was arrested in Yogyakarta for drug trafficking charges in 2010 after 2.6 kilograms of heroin were found in her suitcase. She was sentenced to death in the same year but Veloso’s execution was postponed in 2015 following the arrest in the Philippines of those who allegedly recruited her and sent her to Indonesia.
Asked when Veloso’s sentence was commuted, Communications Secretary Cesar Chavez, said, “When Mary Jane is transferred to (the) Philippines, the effective result is that her sentence becomes simply life imprisonment since there is no death penalty in the Philippines.”
The President said the government will study the possible grant of clemency to Veloso after she returns to the Philippines.
“We will see,” Marcos said adding that “everything is on the table” because studies should be conducted as this would be the first time a Filipino prisoner will be transferred to the country to serve one’s sentence.
Executive clemency is given by the President usually for those who are aged 65 and older, and have served at least five years of their sentence, and their continued imprisonment would be inimical to health, among others.
Senate President Francis Escudero expressed belief the President will grant Veloso clemency.
“However, it will go through the process, both legal and diplomatic, and with due courtesies to the Indonesian government,” he said.
What is important now, he added, is that Veloso has been spared from the death penalty “and the process is underway for her to be free ultimately.”
He thanked the President and the Department of Foreign Affairs for their tireless efforts to save Veloso from being executed and to finally bring her home.
“We owe our immense gratitude to President Prabowo Subianto and to the entire Indonesian government for its compassion. Mary Jane spent over a third of her life in prison and every of those 14 years not knowing if it will be her last,” he said.
“We look forward to welcoming Mary Jane back to the Philippines,” he added.
A joint statement by the Department of Justice and the Department of Foreign Affairs said once Veloso is transferred to the Philippines, “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 conditions for the transfer of Mary Jane Veloso are still being discussed with Indonesia,” it added.
APPEAL
Veloso’s parents appealed to the Marcos government for her to be transferred to a safe local detention facility once she is returned from Indonesia.
Earlier reports said she could be detained at the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City.
Veloso’s mother, Celia, said they are concerned for their daughter’s safety from an international drug syndicate that allegedly used her as a drug courier.
Veloso’s father, Cesar, expressed the same concern, adding his daughter’s recruiter claimed to belong to an international drug syndicate.
Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasquez assured Veloso’s family that the government will ensure her safety.
He said the government will not allow Veloso to be harmed, especially since the international community will be closely monitoring her case and welfare.
He added that the authorities are also hunting down the members and masterminds of the drug syndicate who made Veloso an unwitting drug courier.
RECRUITERS’ CASE
Vasquez said Veloso’s return will advance stalled proceedings at the Nueva Ecija court as she would be able to personally testify in the prosecution of the pending case for human trafficking against her recruiters, Julius Lacanilao and Ma. Cristina Sergio.
In 2020, the Nueva Ecija regional trial court handed a guilty verdict to the two on the illegal recruitment case but the human trafficking case remains pending.
Veloso has accused Lacanilao and Sergio of duping her into bringing heroin to Indonesia, resulting in her arrest and conviction.
“With the intended transfer of Mary Jane to the Philippines, it would facilitate the presentation of witnesses, including herself, to complete the prosecution of the case that is currently pending in court,” Vasquez said. – With Raymond Africa
