PHL-Indonesia still in talks on conditions for Pinay drug convict’s transfer

CONDITIONS for the transfer of Mary Jane F. Veloso, who has been incarcerated in Indonesia for over a decade, were still under discussions with the Indonesian government, Philippine authorities said on Thursday.

This, after President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. claimed earlier in the day that the death sentence for Ms. Veloso, the only overseas Filipino worker (OFW) on death row in Indonesia, has been commuted to life imprisonment.

“We are bound to honor the conditions that would be set for the transfer, particularly the service of sentence by Mary Jane in the Philippines, save the death penalty which is prohibited under our laws,” the Justice and Foreign Affairs departments said in a statement.

“The conditions for the transfer of Ms. Mary Jane Veloso are still being discussed with Indonesia,” they added.

Mr. Marcos on Thursday morning claimed that government efforts have led to the commutation of Ms. Veloso’s death sentence to life imprisonment.

“We will have to decide what will happen next,” he added, noting that Ms. Veloso is set to return to the Philippines.

Mr. Marcos first announced the impending comeback of Ms. Veloso to the Philippines on Wednesday, citing over a decade of diplomatic talks between the two nations.

But Ms. Veloso “will not be immediately released” when she arrives in the Philippines until the two Southeast Asian neighbors reach a mutual agreement for clemency, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said earlier.

Asked on Thursday whether the government will grant clemency to Ms. Veloso, Mr. Marcos said: “We will see.”

“This is the first time this has happened. So, everything is on the table,” he added.

Domestic groups have welcomed the expected return of Ms. Veloso but said the government should do more by granting her clemency.

The National Union of People’s Lawyers — whose members lawyer for Ms. Veloso — said the clemency should be granted to her on “humanitarian grounds” and “as a matter of justice.”

Philippine migrant group Migrante, which has been calling for Ms. Veloso’s release since 2010, said it will organize protest actions, petition drives, and letter barrages to put pressure on the government for Ms. Veloso’s clemency. 

“In the event that Mary Jane were to be transferred to the Philippines, President Marcos, Jr. will now have the power to grant Mary Jane clemency based on her being a victim of human trafficking, on humanitarian grounds, and the absence of death penalty in the Philippines,” it said in a statement.

The Filipino overseas worker was sentenced to death in October 2010 and was granted a stay of execution in April 2015. Ms. Veloso, who was caught smuggling 2.6 kilograms of heroin hidden in the lining of a suitcase, was a victim of human trafficking, according to her lawyers.

Mr. Marcos said the Philippines’ good relations with Indonesia under its past and current presidents have enabled the transfer of Ms. Veloso.

The drug trafficking case of Ms. Veloso has long been decided, but the Indonesian government in 2015 agreed to delay her execution amid the still-ongoing case against her recruiters at a trial court in the province of Nueva Ecija north of the capital Manila.

And it helped so much that the late President Benigno S.C. Aquino III asked Indonesia at the last minute to make Ms. Veloso a state witness.

His foreign secretary, the late Albert F. del Rosario, had said Indonesia gave Ms. Veloso a reprieve to allow her to testify against her recruiters, in a move that the Aquino government said would target a drug trafficking syndicate that has been linked to the victim’s recruiters.

Meanwhile, senators urged the government to double its efforts to go after the human trafficking and drug syndicates in the Philippines.

“Authorities should give particular focus on ensuring that Mary Jane Veloso is protected and if we spared her from the death penalty abroad, then we need to also make sure she is safe since she had been a victim of human trafficking,” Senator Ana Theresia N. Hontiveros-Baraquel told a news briefing in Filipino.

“The government needs to strive to eradicate and punish these syndicates behind human trafficking, these drug syndicates.”

Senate President Francis G. Escudero said the President is likely to grant clemency to the overseas Filipino worker but noted it would need to go through legal and diplomatic channels.

“In the meantime, what’s important is that she has been spared from the death penalty and the process is underway for her to be free ultimately,” he told reporters in a Viber message.

Indonesia’s Coordinating Ministry for Legal Human Rights, Immigration, and Correction (Kemenko Kumham Imipas) earlier said Ms. Veloso would serve her remaining sentence in the Philippines, subject to conditions laid out by an Indonesian court. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza and John Victor D. Ordoñez