Veloso arriving on Wednesday: Palace
The Philippine government said a 39-year-old Filipina who had been in death row in Indonesia for 14 years on drug trafficking charges is coming home.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said in a late Monday statement: ''With much appreciation and gratefulness to the Republic of Indonesia, we confirm the imminent return of our kababayan, Mary Jane Veloso.''
Bersamin did not say when Veloso is arriving. But foreign news reports said Veloso will be leaving Jakarta on Tuesday night and would be in the Philippines early Wednesday.
Bersamin said the Philippines is ''duty-bound... to honor the conditions for her transfer to Philippine jurisdiction.'' He did not detail these.
Veloso was arrested in Indonesia in 2010 for drug trafficking charges and was sentenced to death. Bersamin said ''her homecoming is the fruit of more than a decade of persistent discussions, consultations and diplomacy.''
Veloso will be serving the remainder of her jail term, which was commuted to life imprisonment, in the Philippines.
Earlier, in an interview with GMA7 Unang Balita, Mary Jane's mother, Celia, said: “Since yesterday, she was already in Jakarta.”
“What we know is that she will go to Jakarta, process all the needed documents and I know that my daughter will be able to come home. That’s why we will just wait for her here," she added.
Celia also said their family expects to reunite with her daughter before Christmas.
“Our family has a strong feeling that we will be able to celebrate Christmas with Mary Jane,” she said.
She said she also expects President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. to grant Veloso clemency, DMS-Jaspearl Tan
