Veloso straight to Correctional upon arrival
EXECUTIVE Secretary Lucas Bersamin yesterday said it is still “premature” to talk about a pardon for convicted overseas Filipino worker Mary Jane Veloso who is set to arrive today from Indonesia where she had been on death row for 14 years for a drug trafficking conviction.
Veloso will arrive in Manila at 6 around a.m., with her estimated time of departure from Jakarta at 12:50 a.m., said Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro.
Upon arrival, Veloso will be brought directly to the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City, according to the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).
BuCor Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr. said Veloso will undergo a total of 60 days of quarantine, orientation, and evaluation at the CIW, including a five-day quarantine period that is part of BuCor protocols for newly committed persons.
Catapang has been designated head of Oplan “Sundo-Nesia,” a team composed of officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs, BuCor, and the National Bureau of Investigation that will accompany Veloso to Manila.
Bersamin, when asked by media, declined to talk about a possible grant of pardon to Veloso, saying he prefers for her to return to the country first.
“We will not talk about that yet. Let’s wait for her repatriation because it’s premature to speculate what we will do,” he said in an ambush interview on the sidelines of the Pamaskong Handog Para sa Overseas Filipino Worker Family in Malacañang.
Asked if Veloso must first serve part of her sentence in the country before a pardon is discussed, Bersamin also said it is premature to answer because he has yet to see official documents from Indonesia regarding the transfer.
He, however, said it is possible that President Marcos Jr. might meet with Veloso once she returns, but he is still uncertain.
“We do not know. Because she must first arrive here before we can make a move,” he said.
The President last month said his government is studying a clemency grant for after is sent back to Manila where she is supposed to serve the rest of her sentence which has been reduced to life imprisonment.
Earlier yesterday, Bersamin said that President’s priority was to have Veloso repatriated without delay.
Malacañang on Monday confirmed Veloso’s imminent return to the country on Wednesday, and said it would honor the terms of her return. But details of the terms have not been disclosed.
QUARANTINE
Catapang assured Veloso’s family of her safety inside the CIW, adding that the facility’s staff are prepared to welcome and take care of the former.
He also said CIW staff members are preparing “adobo and pastillas” for Veloso.
On the five-day quarantine Velos is set to undergo, Catapang said, “Veloso as newly committed person deprived of liberty shall be mandatorily housed at the Reception and Diagnostic Center for not more than 60 days, comprising of a five-day quarantine period and a 55-day orientation, diagnostic evaluation, and initial security classification, after which, she shall be transferred to her assigned corrections facility based on the approved resolution of the RDC Initial Classification Board,” Catapang said.
CHRISTMAS VISIT
Catapang said Veloso will also be interviewed by the overseer of CIW to gather information to complete her registration form and she will list down the names of her relatives or authorized visitors.
“After the five-day quarantine period which will fall on December 24, Veloso’s immediate family can visit her in time for Christmas, providing a rare moment of connection during this transitional period,” he added.
In the next 55 days, Veloso will undergo mandatory orientation on corrections facility rules and regulations, rights and privileges of persons deprived of liberty (PDLs), diagnostics procedure, PDL reformation programs, health services, time allowance, and PDL grievance machinery.
SAFETY
Catapang reiterated his assurance of Veloso’s safety in the CIW.
He said Veloso and her alleged illegal recruiter, Cristina Sergio, will be in separate facilities so they will not see each other.
Veloso was convicted of drug trafficking after she was caught with 2.6 kilos of heroin an airport in Yogyakarta in April 2010.
She has repeatedly asserted her innocence, saying she was just a victim of human trafficking.
Veloso was scheduled to be executed in 2015 but the Indonesian government cancelled the execution upon the intercession of then-President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III in relation to alleged human trafficking.
The Department of Justice later filed human trafficking and large-scale illegal recruitment cases before the Nueva Ecija regional trial court against Veloso’s alleged recruiter, Julius Lacanilao and Cristina Sergio.
In 2020, the court rendered a guilty verdict on Lacanilao and Sergio on the illegal recruitment case but the human trafficking case is still pending.
AID
The Department of Health said it is ready to provide medical and mental health assistance to Veloso.
“Usually, when we repatriate Filipinos, we work with the Department of Migrant Workers. We have a team that provides medical, mental, and psychosocial support,” Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said in a briefing.
“Most likely that is also what we will offer her (Veloso): health check and mental health support,” he added.
The health chief said that they will also coordinate with the Department of Justice with regards to specific medical and mental needs of Veloso “so that we can prepare whatever diagnostics or treatment she will need.” – With Gerard Naval
