THE Office of the Solicitor General has asked the Court of Appeals to reverse its earlier decision stopping Mary Jane Veloso, on death row in Indonesia after being convicted for drug trafficking, from giving deposition against alleged illegal recruiters.
In a motion for reconsideration, Solicitor General Jose Calida sought the reconsideration of the CA’s 11th Division decision preventing Sto. Domingo, Nueva Ecija RTC Branch 88 judge Anarica Castillo-Reyes from securing Veloso’s deposition in Jakarta against her alleged recruiter Cristina Sergio and Julius Lacanilao.
Veloso has accused Sergio and Lacanilao of duping her into bringing heroin to Indonesia, resulting in her arrest and conviction.
In its ruling, the CA granted the appeal of the accused Sergio and Lacanilao, agreeing to the petitioners’ argument that allowing the Philippine Embassy in Indonesia to get her deposition would violate their right to confront the witness face to face and to have compulsory process to secure the attendance of witnesses and the production of evidence which is guaranteed under Section 14, Paragraph 1 of the 1987 Constitution.
Veloso’s camp said the deposition would boost her defense in the drug trafficking conviction in Indonesia.
The Solicitor General stressed that the appellate court “grossly ignored the extraordinary circumstances” of the case when it ruled against Veloso.
According to Calida, it should not have strictly applied Section 15, Rule 19 of the Rules of Court which states that prosecution witnesses may be conditionally examined only on two basis: that the witness is too sick or infirm to appear in court and that the witness has to leave the country with no definite date of return.
The chief state lawyer argued that Veloso should be exempted from the said rules considering that she is under detention in Indonesia that now has jurisdiction over her.
“The People respectfully submits that Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipina OFW convicted of drug trafficking in Indonesia and sentenced to death but granted retrieve, thus, remains under the custody of law in Indonesia, is suffering from an unusual predicament,” the motion stated. Rey Requejo
“Verily, her personal appearance before the trial court for the presentation of her testimony cannot be reasonably expected owing to her detention in an Indonesian jail,” it said.
Calida pointed out that allowing the taking of Veloso’s deposition would still be lawful under Rule 23 of the Rules of Criminal Procedure and would not violate the constitutional rights of Sergio and Lacanilao.
The said provision states that the testimony of any person may be taken by deposition upon oral or written interrogatories.
Calida said this was the same provision that the RTC had used in its decision allowing the taking of Veloso’s deposition in her jail cell in Jakarta.
“The Court of Appeals should recognize that in the performance of their duties amid the constantly and rapidly changing legal landscape, trial courts are persistently called upon to read laws not as estate mausoleums of texts, but as living, breathing and evolving documents,” Calida added.
In the same motion, Calida also asked the CA to dismiss the instant petition filed by the respondents against the use of Veloso’s statements in the hearing.
Meanwhile, lawyer Edre Olalia of the National Union of People’s Lawyers who is helping the Velosos in the case said the OSG’s move was a welcome development.
“We gladly welcome this position by the OSG on this specific case and particular issue as it is compatible and is on all fours with our submission as Philippine counsels for Mary Jane and her family,” Olalia, who is the NUPL president, said.
He said that Sergio and Lacanilao had already “categorically and unequivocally” admitted that Veloso was a “victim” who did not know that her luggage contained heroin when she was arrested in 2010.
“Hence, to stop her from testifying is not only simply absurd and a gross injustice but is a matter of life and death for her,” Olalia added.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo stopped Veloso’s execution on April 29, 2015 after then President Benigno Aquino III appealed her case and explained that her testimony was vital in the case she had filed against her recruiters.
She has been detained since 2010 after she was apprehended by Indonesian authorities at the Yogyakarta airport for bringing in more than two kilograms of heroin.
Earlier, the Department of Foreign Affairs assured the family of Veloso of the government’s continued support as well as for her to be able to prove her case that she was a victim of human trafficking despite the CA ruling.