Filipino drug convict Mary Jane Veloso’s family begs Indonesia leader to grant her ‘gift of freedom’

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“Mary Jane is a victim of joblessness in the Philippines and of unscrupulous individuals who take advantage of poor Filipinos who are desperate to find employment,” said the group’s chairwoman, Joanna Concepcion.

Marcos Jnr had met Widodo on two previous occasions since becoming president but he had never personally brought up Veloso’s case during their meetings, something Concepcion said was a missed opportunity.

Indonesia has strict laws against illegal narcotics, including capital punishment, but has placed an unofficial moratorium on executions since the last ones took place in 2016.

Last April, Widodo granted clemency to Merry Utami – an Indonesian woman who had originally been sentenced to death for smuggling heroin – by commuting her sentence to life imprisonment. Migrante hopes that Widodo would show similar mercy to Veloso and allow her to return to the Philippines.

According to an official record of the meeting between Marcos Jnr and Widodo, the two leaders renewed their commitments on political and security relations, with Marcos Jnr saying the Philippines remains “committed to working closely and actively with Indonesia as we nurture our bonds of kinship and elevate our relations to new heights”.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Maria Theresa Lazaro said that during the meeting, it was established that “the legal interrogatories required from the Philippine Regional Trial Court on the case of Mary Jane Veloso have been sent to Jakarta for Ms Veloso to answer, as part of her testimony”, indicating progress in Manila’s attempt to allow Veloso to testify against her alleged traffickers in court.

Marcos Jnr is hopeful of the case’s progress which “will merit [Veloso’s] clemency at the appropriate time”, Lazaro added.

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Ahead of Widodo’s arrival in Manila, Philippine Foreign Minister Eduardo Manalo met his counterpart Retno Marsudi.

Manalo, who had sought clemency for Veloso in September 2022, told reporters on Tuesday that he and Marsudi were still “working” on her case. “Now, it’s up to their government to decide,” Manalo added.

But Migrante said the onus of pushing for Veloso’s freedom had always been on the Philippine government, and unnecessary delays had cost her years spent in “unjust incarceration”.

“From the very start, Mary Jane’s fate has been in the hands of our government. We all know she is innocent. But it’s been over a decade, and we still do not have her legal deposition. We haven’t heard her speak yet,” said Concepcion.

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Filipino nationals Maria Cristina Sergio and Julius Lacanilao, who allegedly recruited Veloso on a false premise, were charged with illegal recruitment, fraud, and human trafficking in 2015 but their cases are yet to conclude.

Veloso has long maintained that she was unaware of the narcotics in her luggage, which she said were placed in there by Sergio and Lacanilao.

In June, the Philippine government submitted a request to Indonesia requesting Veloso’s deposition in court. Veloso’s lawyer, Josa Deinla, told This Week In Asia that her legal team will continue to press both governments to finally allow Veloso’s deposition to be heard.

Since October 2019, the Philippine Supreme Court has agreed for her testimony to be delivered in Indonesia. But the two countries have yet to follow up on the matter or agree on a venue for jurisdiction.

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Deinla urged Marcos Jnr to press Widodo to free Veloso. “She has long been suffering in jail for a crime she didn’t commit,” Deinla said.

Last May, Marcos Jnr said he wanted to bring Veloso home so that “we will be the ones to punish her”. But Deinla argued that the Philippine government had no basis to punish Veloso. “She is a victim [of human trafficking], not a criminal,” Deinla said.

Indonesia and the Philippines are signatories to the United Nations Palermo Protocol, which exempts trafficked persons from criminal liability.