Arrival from Indonesia expected Wednesday
MARY Jane Veloso, a former domestic helper who had been on death row in Indonesia since 2010, is set to be flown back to the Philippines tomorrow, the Indonesian government announced yesterday.
Indonesian Deputy Coordinator of Immigration and Corrections Nyoman Gede Surya Mataram announced the development in a press briefing Monday in Jakarta.
Malacañang affirmed the Philippines’ commitment to honor the conditions for Veloso’s transfer as it expressed “much appreciation and gratefulness” to Indonesia.
“Duty-bound as we are to honor the conditions for her transfer to Philippine jurisdiction, we are truly elated to welcome Mary Jane back to her homeland and family, from whom she has been distanced for too long,” Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said in a statement.
“Her homecoming is the fruit of more than a decade of persistent discussions, consultations and diplomacy,” he also said.
Indonesia’s announcement followed Veloso’s transferred on Sunday to a facility in the Jakarta Women’s Penitentiary from her detention cell in Yogyakarta, in eastern Java island.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Philippine Embassy in Jakarta have yet to issue an official statement on the matter.
Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo Jose de Vega earlier yesterday said Veloso will likely return to Manila this week. He said several officials of the DFA, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Corrections were set to fly to Jakarta Monday night to finalize the details of Veloso’s transfer.
De Vega said the DFA’s move to cancel the December 16 to 18 trip of Veloso’s family to Yogyakarta was a sign of her impending return to Manila.
Veloso’s mother Celia, in a television interview yesterday, said her daughter was moved to Jakarta from her detention cell on Sunday, to attend to some needed documents, and it was the reason their visit was cancelled.
She also said their family could not contain their elation knowing that after more than a decade, they would see Mary Jane, hopefully before Christmas.
Earlier, Indonesian Minister for Human Rights and Corrections Yusril Ihza Mahendra said Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto wants Veloso returned to Manila for the Christmas holidays.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, who also visited Indonesia to talk with his counterparts early this month, also said they were optimistic Veloso will be home on or before Christmas Day.
Velasco, a former domestic helper and mother of two, was apprehended by Indonesian authorities at the Yogyakarta airport in 2010 after her suitcase was found containing over two kilograms of heroin.
She had been scheduled for execution by firing squad in April 2015 but this was stopped by then-President Joko Widodo merely an hour before it was supposed to be carried out, based on the appeals of then-President Benigno Aquino III who said her testimony is vital to the case she has filed against her recruiters.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last month announced that an agreement has been reached between the Philippines and Indonesia for the turnover of Veloso’s jurisdiction to the Philippine government. – With Jocelyn Montemayor
