The return of Mary Jane Veloso to the country is a victory for diplomacy.
Filipina inmate on death row in Indonesia Mary Jane Veloso has been handed over to the Philippine officials in Jakarta.
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary for Migration Eduardo Jose de Vega expressed gratitude to the Indonesian government. He said, “The return or transfer of Mary Jane Veloso to the Philippines is a win for diplomacy, for good relations between the Philippines and Indonesia.”
Veloso is now in PH custody and she thanked Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., and the people who facilitated her transfer to Manila after having been on the edge of death since 2010 due to the death penalty she was facing.
As much as we all know, the case of Veloso has spanned over a decade and is one of the most high-profile legal battles that involves an overseas Filipino worker. She was on death row in Indonesia due to drvg trafficking.
She was arrested on April 25, 2010, at Adisucipto International Airport in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. More than 2.6 kilograms of heroin was found in her possession at that time.
November 20, 2024, President Marcos announced that Veloso would be sent back to the Philippines from Indonesia.
Veloso has been handed over to PH officials and will be on a Cebu Pacific flight to Manila from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. According to the agreement, she will be transferred as a prisoner and despite her return, she will still serve her sentence as part of the agreement between the two countries.
President Marcos is yet to decide on her pardon as for now, the focus is her repatriation without delay.
As she returns, she will be immediately taken to the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) and she will be staying there for 60 days or five days of quarantine and 55 days of orientation, diagnostic evaluation, and initial security classification.
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