MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines on Thursday vowed to honor the conditions set by Indonesia for the transfer of Filipino death row inmate Mary Jane Veloso to the country, including the serving of her sentence.
This was according to a joint statement of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), hours after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Indonesia commuted Veloso’s sentence to life imprisonment during the term of then Indonesian president Joko Widodo.
“We are bound to honor the conditions that would be set for the transfer, particularly the service of sentence by Mary Jane in the Philippines, save the death penalty which is prohibited under our laws,” the DOJ and the DFA said.
“The conditions for the transfer of Ms. Mary Jane Veloso are still being discussed with Indonesia,” it added.
Veloso was arrested in Indonesia in 2010 carrying a suitcase lined with 2.6 kilograms of heroin and later sentenced to death by firing squad.
The Philippine government won a last-minute reprieve for Veloso in 2015 after a woman suspected of recruiting her was arrested and put on trial for human trafficking in which Veloso was named as a prosecution witness.
Veloso will be handed over to Manila following years of “long and difficult” negotiations, Marcos said Wednesday.
“It’s good that our relations with Indonesia, our relations with then President Widodo and all of these people, together with our relations now with the new President, President Prabowo, our relations is good, they made this happen, this is the first time they did this,” Marcos said in a chance interview.
“They said they have no intention to detain or execute Mary Jane Veloso. That’s why they said let’s just look for other ways. We should thank Indonesia, we should thank the last President, the current President, President Widodo and President Prabowo because if they did not agree, we will not be able to do this,” he added.
