THE DEPARTMENT of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Tuesday said it is in talks with the Indonesian government on possibly transferring Mary Jane Veloso, an overseas Filipino workers who has been on death row for drugs for over a decade, to the Philippines.
“The DFA joins the Filipino nation in the hope and prayers for a successful resolution of this issue, one which shall do justice to Ms. Veloso and her family while strengthening the deep bonds of friendship between the Philippines and Indonesia,” the agency said in a statement.
Last week, Indonesia’s Coordinating Ministry for Legal, Human Rights, Immigration, and Correction (Kemenko Kumham Imipas) said in a statement that it is considering the transfer of foreign inmates such as the Filipina overseas worker, as part of “constructive diplomacy.”
“If the request is granted, Mary Jane Veloso will continue to serve her remaining sentence in the Philippines, subject to the conditions determined by the Indonesian court’s ruling,” the Indonesian agency said in a statement, which was translated to English from Bahasa Indonesian.
She had been arrested in 2010 for allegedly smuggling heroin into Indonesia and was sentenced to death in October that year before being granted a stay of execution in 2015.
The DFA asked Indonesia in September 2022 to pardon Ms. Veloso.
Filipino lawyers have defended that Ms. Veloso, who was caught smuggling 2.6 kilos of heroin hidden in the lining of a suitcase, was a victim of human trafficking.
Last year, Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. said his government has been lobbying for the Indonesian government to grant the overseas worker pardon or even extradition to serve her sentence in the Philippines. — John Victor D. Ordoñez