THE family of Filipina death row convict Mary Jane Veloso said the Department of Foreign Affairs has cancelled their two-day trip to Indonesia to visit the former in her detention cell.
The family WAs originally scheduled to visit Veloso in her detention cell in Yogyakarta on December 16 to 18.
In a statement in Filipino, the family said they learned of the cancellation in an advisory they received from the DFA’s Office of the Undersecretary for Migration yesterday morning.
They said that according to the DFA, Mary Jane was scheduled to travel to Jakarta Sunday to begin the process of her transfer to the Philippines, based upon the order of the Indonesian Ministry for Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Corrections.
The Veloso family said while they are disappointed with the cancellation as it is over a year since they last visited Mary Jane, they are nevertheless very happy that she is set to returned to the country, even if no definite date for her transfer has been announced.
Earlier, Indonesian Minister for Human Rights and Corrections Yusril Ihza Mahendra said that Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto wants Veloso returned to Manila for the Christmas holidays.
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. Last week, he said the Indonesian government requested the Philippines “not to make any announcements until everything is settled,” and his government will “respect” the request.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, who visited Indonesia to talk with his counterparts early this month, has said they are optimistic Veloso will be transferred on or before Christmas.
Veloso has been languishing in Indonesian jail since 2010 after she was apprehended by Indonesian authorities at the Yogyakarta airport for bringing in more than two kilograms of heroin.
Her execution by firing squad in April 2015 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 explained that her testimony is vital in the case she has filed against her recruited.
