By ALYSSA MAE CLARIN
Bulatlat.com
MANILA — The Philippine government today announced that Mary Jane Veloso is set to return to the country after a decade of consultations with Indonesia.
Veloso, an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who has been imprisoned in Indonesia because of drug trafficking charges, has been on death row for over fourteen years.
National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) Chairperson Edre U. Olalia said that Veloso’s private counsels are also “exultant to be informed that she will finally be coming home soon.”
Olalia has been Veloso’s private lawyer since it was announced that she will be on death row back in April 2015.
“We express our appreciation to the Indonesian government for this exemplary act of goodwill,” said Olalia.
The Philippine government’s announcement was issued following a recent meeting between Philippine Ambassador to Indonesia Gina Jamoralin and Coordinating Minister Yusril Mahendra of the Indonesian Ministry for Law, Human Rights and Immigration, where both countries explored possible ways to transfer Veloso back to her home country.
Read: After 14 years, Mary Jane Veloso may return to PH
Veloso’s case was brought to international attention after she was sentenced to die in Indonesia. Prior to this, her family spent more than five years seeking government assistance to prove that she was a victim of human trafficking.
Her lawyers are still hopeful that Veloso will be granted immediate clemency as soon as she is transferred back to the country.
“Even as we continue to pray that Mary Jane will really step foot back in our homeland soon, we call on President Marcos Jr. to accord her immediate clemency on humanitarian grounds and as a matter of justice,” he added.
This was also the call of migrant rights group, Migrante International, who had been continuously advocating to save her life from execution since 2015. The group hoped that this ‘transfer of custody’ would finally make Veloso one step closer to her long-awaited freedom.
They said, “we call on the Marcos Jr. administration to grant Mary Jane immediate clemency upon her return home to the Philippines under humanitarian grounds and as a victim of human trafficking.” (JJE)
