THE Philippines on Tuesday sought clarification from Indonesia over the impending execution of Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipino death row convict there, a foreign affairs official said.
Immediately after Indonesian President Joko Widodo said they would push through Veloso’s execution upon the go-signal of President Rodrigo Duterte, Foreign Affairs chief Perfecto Yasay Jr. called his counterpart, Foreign Ministry Retno Marsudi, to clarify the issue.
“We already sent Indonesia a clarification on Duterte’s statement on Veloso’s execution,” Yasay said in a television interview on ANC’s Headstart program.
Earlier, in an interview in Indonesia, Widodo said Duterte had given him the green light to execute Veloso, who was sentenced to die for drug smuggling.
Palace officials did not deny the report, but said the President had only told Widodo that the Philippines will not interfere in Indonesia’s legal process.
Yasay said Duterte and Widodo had a closed-door meeting last week without the Filipino Cabinet officials.
Before leaving for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit, Duterte had said he would try to intercede on Veloso’s behalf with Widodo “in a most respectful and in a very, very courteous way.”
“If my pleadings will fall on deaf ears, I am ready to accept it,” Duterte said in his hometown Davao City.
Veloso, who was arrested at the Adisucipto Airport in Yogyakarta in April 2010 for bringing illegal drugs into Indonesia, was among the nine foreigners scheduled for execution in 2015 but got a last-minute reprieve after the previous administration intervened.
But Yasay said Duterte did not ask for clemency during his meeting with Widodo in Jakarta, Indonesia last week.
Critics attacked Duterte for giving Widodo the “go-ahead.”
The Official Gazette, on its Twitter account, quoted Yasay as saying that Widodo had taken Duterte’s statement out of context, but later took down the post.
Widodo on Tuesday maintained that Duterte had given him the go-ahead.
“President Duterte said to go ahead [with the] process it in accordance with Indonesian law, well that’s it…the meaning of that is clear,” Widodo said.
Yasay said Duterte did not aske for clemency because Philippine authorities were sill looking for substantive evidence to show Veloso was innocent.
“We are waiting for more substantive evidence that would make our request for clemency more compelling,” Yasay said.
On Monday Yasay clarified that the Jakarta Post headline saying Duterte had given the green light for Veloso’s execution was “erroneous.”
In an earlier interview, Yasay said Veloso’s execution “had been deferred because she would be testifying in the case against her illegal recruiter.”
Yasay said Duterte never gave a green light, but merely said he respects Indonesia’s judicial processes and will accept whatever its final decision would be.
In October 2010, Veloso was sentenced to death by a panel of judges at the District Court of Sleman, Yogyakarta.
Veloso has been spared twice following the presentation of a case in the Philippines that said she had been duped into smuggling heroin into Indonesia by a drug syndicate.
Last year, Mary Jane Veloso’s recruiters, Maria Kristina Sergio, admitted in a hearing at the Justice department that she and her live-in partner Julius Lacanilao, worked for an international drug ring.
Duterte on Tuesday confirmed he had told Widodo to proceed with the execution of Veloso “in accordance with Indonesian law” after being sentenced to die for illegal smuggling.
Widodo, on the other hand, said that Jakarta would respect all pending legal processes in the Philippines, after Veloso’s execution has been put on hold indefinitely so that she could testify against her recruiters, who allegedly tricked her into carrying kilos of heroin into Indonesia.
Duterte said he never mentioned Veloso specifically.
“I told him, Mr. President… It’s good that you have a death penalty here because at least you can bring [drug related cases] to the minimum. Go ahead and implement the law,” Duterte said in a speech before troops at Villamor Airbase in Pasay.
“I never mentioned Veloso. I just said that we will respect the judgements of your courts, period,” he said.
In an interview Tuesday, Widodo said Duterte was was being consistent in his war on illegal drugs.
“I see that Duterte has very high consistency in regards to the eradication of narcotics. There is no tolerance, so he said that he respected the legal process in Indonesia. The meaning of that is clear,” Widodo said.
Leftist students trooped to the Mendiola Peace Arch on Tuesday to urge President Duterte to save Veloso from execution in Indonesia.
“We are gathered here today to demand immediate actions from the Duterte administration on the case of Mary Jane Veloso. We maintain that Mary Jane Veloso should be saved from execution,” said LFS national spokesperson JP Rosos.
“Also, we want President Duterte to clarify his statement that was reported by the Indonesian government and news agencies. Indonesia tells us that our President gave the green light for Mary Jane’s execution but our Department of Foreign Affairs tells otherwise. President Duterte needs to explicitly and categorically state the Philippines’ desire to exclude Mary Jane from execution,” Rosos said.
Senate Minority Leader Ralph Recto on Tuesday said Veloso deserves clemency as she was not a drug lord, or even a user, but was merely used to smuggle drugs without her knowledge.
Recto noted that she was going to Indonesia to work as maid, not knowing that she was already a mule.
Senator Leila de Lima, a critic of Duterte, described as “disgusting” the President’s statement to Widodo regarding Veloso’s execution.
“But then again, are we surprised? In our own country, more than 40 people are killed without any trial everyday. So what is the worth of another life, the life of Mary Jane Veloso?” she said.
“Judicial or extrajudicial executions, that is now the policy of the government. It’s saddening. It makes me cry. It’s shocking in a disgusting way,” she added.
Senator Francis Pangilinan also expressed dismay at the President’s reported statement.
“This is heartbreaking. I am at a loss for words to describe how it has come to this,” he said.
But Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III and Senator Francis Escudero said they understand where the President is coming from.
Sotto said Duterte’s stand on the execution of Veloso was “definitely understandable,” saying the government should not be extending any effort to help drug mules.
“We expect Indonesia to respect our laws also,” said Sotto.
Escudero said Duterte, who has been pushing for the death penalty, has no moral ground to appeal the death penalty imposed on Veloso. He said Duterte has no moral authority to ask Widodo to stay the execution due to his administration’s campaign against drug pushers and users. With John Paolo Bencito, Sandy Araneta and Macon Ramos-Araneta
