A Bishop has joined groups of people and relatives calling for President Duterte to save Mary Jane Veloso from the death row.
After reports that the overseas Filipino worker Mary Jane Veloso’s execution was postponed due to the ongoing hearing for her case, a high official of the Catholic Church joined those who are calling for President Rodrigo Duterte to save her from death.
Veloso is due for execution in Indonesia where she was convicted for drug trafficking after caught in Jakarta airport, few years ago.
The Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose earlier said it could ask Indonesia for a new judicial review if it would be proven that the two had used Veloso as an unknowing drug mule.
According to Bishop Ruperto Santos, who heads the Commission on Migrants and Itinerant People of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, the government should do all efforts to save Veloso from the firing squad in the said country.
He also reiterates that there is a need to expedite the trial of Ma. Cristina Sergio and Julius Lacanilao, the two recruiters of the OFW who allegedly tricked Veloso into bringing 2.6 kilograms of heroin to Indonesia in 2010.
Veloso has claimed that she was duped into bringing heroin to Indonesia by Sergio and Lacanilao when the three of them went to Malaysia in 2010. Lacanilao was Sergio’s live-in partner.
Sergio and Lacanilao are facing several charges includinh illegal recruitment, human trafficking and estafa cases before the Baloc Regional Trial Court in Indonesia.
The bishop also appealed to fellow Filipinos to continue praying for Veloso’s freedom from death, whose execution last year was reprieved to allow her to testify against her alleged recruiters.
Santos gave the statement after Duterte reportedly gave the go-signal for Veloso’s execution during his meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo last week.
Malacañang has denied the report, which came out in the Jakarta Post, saying what Duterte told Widodo was that he would not interfere with the laws implemented in Indonesia.