Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 11) — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has asked the Indonesian government to reexamine the case of Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipino on death row over drug charges, during talks with his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit.
Speaking to reporters, Marcos said his discussion with Widodo about the matter was brief given the latter’s tight schedule. Indonesia chaired the summit held in the town of Labuan Bajo.
After informing Widodo that the Philippine government is “still trying to work hard” to help Veloso, Marcos said the Indonesian leader explained that his country also has certain laws to follow in relation to the case.
“So, sabi ko, [So I said] the best that we can do I suppose is for the Indonesian authorities to reexamine the case…as a favor to the Philippines,” Marcos narrated. “‘Yun lang ang napag-usapan namin [That was all we talked about], not much more than that.”
Veloso, a domestic helper from Nueva Ecija, was arrested in 2010 for allegedly smuggling 2.6 kilograms of heroin into Indonesia.
She denied the accusations, saying she was tricked by her recruiter to bring the drugs — valued at around $500,000 or over ₱28 million — contained in the seams of a suitcase that was given to her.
Veloso was meted the death penalty in October 2010 and was supposed to be executed by firing squad in April 2015. However, she was granted a last-minute reprieve through a stay of execution, so she can stand as a witness in the human trafficking case against her recruiter Kristina Sergio, and Sergio’s partner Julius Lacanilao.
When Widodo was first elected in 2014, he declared war against drug trafficking and rejected all clemency requests from drug convicts on death row. In January 2015, he rejected a batch of clemency appeals, including Veloso’s.
