Veloso’s family cancels trip to Indonesia as repatriation process starts
The family of Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipina death row convict, has canceled their trip to Indonesia set Monday as the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) begins the process of her repatriation to the Philippines.
In a statement released on Sunday, Celia and Cesar Veloso, parents of Veloso, said their family received an advisory from the DFA Office of the Undersecretary of Migration Affairs (OUMA) that their visit to Yogyakarta from December 16 to 18 would not push through.
“According to the DFA, Mary Jane is scheduled to travel to Jakarta to start to the process of her transfer to the Philippines, in line with the order of the Indonesian Ministry for Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Corrections. Her return to the Philippines does not have a definite date,” they said.
“We, the parents of Mary Jane, and her child, are sad that we cannot visit Mary Jane anymore because we have prepared for this trip and we are so excited to be with her after a year since we last visited her. Nevertheless, we are very happy because Mary Jane's return to our country is approaching,” they added.
The DFA formally requested the clemency for Veloso in 2022.
She was arrested by Indonesian authorities in 2010 after they found 2.6 kilograms of heroin in her suitcase and sentenced her to death in the same year. But the Philippines appealed to Indonesia and recently, both countries signed an agreement to repatriate Veloso.
Her life sentence would be commuted to life imprisonment, the remainder of which she will serve in the Philippines.
President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. said last week that the government will still decide if it will grant clemency to Veloso. Jaspearl Tan/DMS
