President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will raise the case of Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipino on death row in Indonesia on drug trafficking charges, during his three-day state visit to the ASEAN country next week.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo disclosed this to lawmakers when asked for an update on Filipinos facing death sentences abroad.
“We will go to Indonesia. Most likely, we will raise this issue and concerns to Indonesian officials,” he said.
“This is one of the issues which we will raise during the state visit,” Manalo added.
Veloso was found guilty of carrying 2.6 kilograms of heroin. She was arrested in Yogyakarta airport in 2010.
However, Veloso denied she was a drug courier, saying she was tricked by her Filipino recruiter into bringing a drug-laden suitcase to Indonesia.
The Indonesian government ordered a stay in her execution in 2015 and turned her into a witness.
Then-President Benigno Aquino III personally talked to Indonesian President Joko Widodo to plead on Veloso’s case and grant her clemency at the sidelines of a summit that year.
Meanwhile, Manalo told legislators the Philippines is open to reviving talks with China for a joint oil and gas exploration in the West Philippine Sea.
“On joint exploration, yes, we did terminate that agreement between China and the Philippines last June because of lack of applicable law. That is why it broke down,” Manalo said during the budget briefing at the House of Representatives.
“But we have indicated to China that we are open to new talks on oil and gas exploration. We are open to talks, but on whether we will get to an agreement, our position is that any agreement with China or any other country, we will not be agreeing to anything which is not in accordance with our Constitution,” he added.