Filipina inmate Mary Jane Veloso was moved to Jakarta Sunday, days before she is expected to fly home on Wednesday after the Indonesian government signed an agreement to repatriate her.
Veloso, 39, was arrested and convicted in 2010 after the suitcase she was carrying was found to be lined with 2.6 kilograms of heroin.
“With much appreciation and gratefulness to the Republic of Indonesia, we confirm the imminent return of our kababayan, Mary Jane Veloso. Her homecoming is the fruit of more than a decade of persistent discussions, consultations and diplomacy,” Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said in a statement Monday evening.
“Duty-bound as we are to honor the conditions for her transfer to Philippine jurisdiction, we are truly elated to welcome Mary Jane back to her homeland and family, from whom she has been distanced for too long,” Bersamin added.
Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Tess Lazaro said Veloso is arriving in Manila at 6 a.m. Wednesday.
On Sunday, officers picked her up from a women’s prison in Yogyakarta province before transporting her to another prison in Jakarta.
From there she will be flown back to the Philippines early Wednesday morning, I Nyoman Gede Surya Mataram, acting deputy for immigration and corrections coordination, said in a press conference.
She will travel home on a Cebu Airlines flight shortly after midnight on December 18, he confirmed to reporters.
Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega confirmed that a Philippine delegation that included representatives from the Bureau of Corrections and the National Bureau of Investigation traveled to Jakarta to facilitate Veloso’s release.
“She will be turned over to the Philippines in accordance with a practical arrangement we signed. We are covering the costs, and no Indonesian police will accompany her on her trip back here,” De Vega said.
He said this was the reason why the DFA cancelled the visit of Veloso’s parents over the weekend.
“The family was supposed to visit her in her regular detention center in Yogyakarta. However, we were informed by Indonesia on Saturday that she would be transferred to Jakarta,” the DFA official said.
“Because of this, we decided it would be best for the family to welcome her directly upon her return to the Philippines,” he added.
Foreign affairs ministry spokesman Roy Soemirat said they did not yet “have any formal information from our law enforcement agency on the details” of her transfer.
Both Veloso and her supporters said she was duped by an international drug syndicate, and in 2015, she narrowly escaped execution after her suspected recruiter was arrested.
She told Agence France Presse on Friday, in her first interview since the repatriation agreement, that her release was a “miracle.”
Indonesia has some of the world’s toughest drug laws and has executed foreigners in the past.
At least 530 people were on death row in the Southeast Asian nation, mostly for drug-related crimes, according to data from rights group KontraS, citing official figures.
Earlier, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said he is considering clemency for Veloso.
“We will see. We will see… This is the first time something like this has happened,” he said.
Mr. Marcos credited the strong diplomatic ties with Indonesia and efforts spanning multiple Philippine administrations for Veloso’s eventual return.
He highlighted the cooperation of both former Indonesian President Joko Widodo and current President Prabowo Subianto in finding a resolution.
“Our relations with Indonesia and its leaders made this possible,” Mr. Marcos said. “They had no interest in executing or detaining Mary Jane, so they found a way to help us.”
“We have been working on this for… All the previous presidents, not just me. It was 10 years in the making,” he added. With AFP
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline “Mary Jane Veloso moved to Jakarta before flying back home.”
