Filipina detainee Mary Jane Veloso is expected to arrive in the Philippines on Wednesday morning after 14 years of being detained in Indonesia for drug trafficking cases.
Officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) have been in Indonesia since yesterday to facilitate Veloso’s return to the country.
Veloso who was found guilty for drug trafficking was apprehended in 2010 and meted with a death sentence through firing squad in 2015.
Her death sentence was put on hold after her alleged recruiters were arrested in the Philippines.
The Philippine government appealed for Veloso’s clemency but it is only this year that the Indonesian government agreed to transfer her and her case custody to the Philippines.
Upon arrival, Veloso will be placed under the custody of the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin cannot yet give categorical answer on the possibility of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr giving Veloso the request of her family for a presidential pardon.
“Nothing to say yet on what may happen. The priority of PBBM is to have Veloso repatriated without delay”. Bersamin said.
Abner is an award-winning journalist. He received the prestigious 2015 Titus Brandsma Award for Community Communication in the Philippines and participated in the 2016 International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) of the United States of America, sponsored by the US Embassy in the Philippines. Founder of WATCH NORTH COTABATO, a media-citizens’ transparency group. He worked as a correspondent for the Philippine Daily Inquirer and CNN Philippines. His experience in broadcasting includes anchoring for Brigada News FM in Kidapawan and General Santos City and Brigada News TV. He anchors Tira Brigada via 105.1 Brigada News FM Manila, Mondays-Saturdays.