The Philippine government continues to appeal for a commutation of sentence for Mary Jane Veloso, the overseas Filipino worker (OFW) on death row over drug trafficking charges in Indonesia.
“She’s on death row so we have a request for clemency. Even the Indonesian Human Rights Commission and women’s groups, are supporting us,” Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo Jose de Vega said Thursday.
The statement came as he confirmed that the Philippine Embassy in Jakarta helped facilitate the visit of Veloso’s family in Indonesia.
The government continues to bank on the fact that Indonesia as a Southeast Asian neighbor and friend, would be lenient, he said.
“So every day na buhay siya, that means nakikinig ang Indonesia sa atin. In other words, hindi nila tinutuloy ang execution niya (that means Indonesia is listening to our appeal. In other words, they are not pushing through with the execution),” he said.
De Vega added that the Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights is closely monitoring developments in the Philippines with regard to Veloso’s recruiters.
“Ang hinihingi naman ng Indonesian Human Right Commission para makatulong, gumalaw iyong anti-trafficking, illegal trafficking na kaso na nandito (sa Pilipinas). Mayroong kaso against doon sa nag-recruit sa kanya (What they are hoping for is progress on the illegal trafficking case of her recruiters in the Philippines),” he said.
Thailand-based Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) are among the rights groups requesting Indonesia to pardon Veloso, whose camp claimed that she was tricked by her recruiters Ma. Cristina Sergio and Julius Lacanilao not knowing the suitcase given to her while in Malaysia contained drugs.
The two recruiters have been sentenced to life imprisonment but in a separate case, involving the illegal recruitment of three other Filipinos Lorna Valino, Ana Marie Gonzales and Jenalyn Paraiso.