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Philippines
Thursday, March 28, 2024

High hopes for Veloso

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By the time we go offstone, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will have met up with his Indonesian counterpart, Joko Widodo, where they were scheduled to witness the signing of major bilateral agreements.

Manila and Jakarta were to enter into crucial agreements aimed at enhancing their defense capabilities and strengthen cultural ties during President Marcos’ three-day state visit – his first overseas since his presidential oath on June 30 — to Jakarta starting on Sunday.

The 64-year-old President Marcos and President Widodo, 61, were booked to witness the signing of a “Plan of Action” – which sketches an ultrapractical roadmap for bilateral cooperation over the next five years ending 2027.

The agreement was to be signed by the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Indonesia.

The Department of National Defense and the Ministry of Defense Indonesia would also sign the renewal of the 1997 Agreement on Cooperative Activities in the Field of Defense and Security.

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And the two countries, both members of the 43-year-old Association of Southeast Asian Nations – were expected to enter into a memorandum of understanding on cultural cooperation, with signatures from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the Ministry of Education and Culture Indonesia.

An emotive issue which may be tackled – although no official confirmation has been made – is the case of 37-year-old Mary Jane Veloso, the Filipino Overseas Filipino Worker from Nueva Ecija who was sentenced to death on drug trafficking charges and has been in prison for the past 12 years.

The mother of two was convicted of illegally importing heroin into Indonesia, but she has maintained she was thumbed by drug traffickers and had no knowledge of her role. Fact has been her recruiters had been arrested, brought to court, jailed and fined.

We understand the Veloso narrative is a sensitive matter, with officials Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles and Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople stressing at a media briefing in Jakarta they cannot comment on it beyond saying President Marcos is aware of the issue.

“By agreement, it will be the DFA that will be taking the lead,” Ople said, adding the department has the institutional memory on the case and because of the “importance of speaking with one voice on a case that has such very sensitive dimensions as the case of Mary Jane Veloso.”

She said the matter has been brought to Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo, who is with the president’s delegation.

“I’m sure that he will be, at the appropriate time, open to saying more about this,” Ople added, noting although the Philippines can pursue the diplomatic track on the case, Filipinos can also turn to the “divine track” and pray that Veloso be allowed to come home.

In his remarks on Sunday, President Marcos said of Overseas Filipino Workers the country is “always so proud of them” and thanked Indonesia and Singapore, his next stop tomorrow, for welcoming Filipino workers to their countries.

We hold high expectations for Veloso, a victim of exploitative recruiters, who jumped on her naivete.

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