The National Bureau of Investigations said on Wednesday the family of Mary Jane Veloso will be placed under the Witness Protection Program following reports of ‘death threats’ to the family.
At a congressional hearing, NBI Director Virgilio Mendez said Mary Jane’s husband and two children will now be under the custody of the NBI and will be covered by WPP.
At the same time, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said she already sent an NBI team to Nueva Ecija to check on the premises of the Velosos’ residence in Talavera town.
“Authorities are still trying to identify the three men who visited the Velosos to determine their motive for the visit,” de Lima said.
Mendez said Veloso’s family told the NBI that “there were men trying to approach them.”
“There were unidentified armed men who visited the residence,” Mendez said quoting the claims of the Veloso family.
Mendez said the NBI is still investigating the indentity of those armed men.
In a related development, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs admitted on Wednesday that there is no definite time set by the Indonesian government granting a stay of execution to Mary Jane Veloso to give way to the investigation of her case in the Philippines.
DFA Secretary Albert del Rosario has said that the purpose of the stay is to allow Mary Jane to give testimony in connection with the complaint filed against her recruiters.
The surrender of Maria Kristina Sergio, Veloso’s alleged illegal recruiter, played a big part in Veloso’s reprieve. Veloso was convicted for drug smuggling in October 2010.
The DFA said they are regularly updating the Indonesian government on the developments in the investigation against Veloso’s recruiter.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, for her part, said they are constantly in touch with Indonesian counterpart to keep them posted on the ongoing investigation.
The DFA said there are 1, 288 Filipinos in jail abroad for drug-related cases including 41 who are on death row. With Vito Barcelo
