MANILA: Malacanang on Friday (July 4) assured the relatives and supporters of Mary Jane Veloso that their appeal for her clemency will be relayed to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
This assurance was in response to a gathering held earlier in the day, urging Marcos to free Veloso, who has been detained at the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City since her transfer from Indonesia in December 2024.
“If we’re not violating any laws and this will benefit our fellow citizens, then we will likely receive a positive response,” Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said at a briefing.
Veloso’s relatives, along with Churches Witnessing with Migrants, Migrante International, the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, and Caritas Philippines, submitted letters and petitions with more than 5,000 signatures to Malacanang, appealing for her immediate clemency and release.
The Philippine and Indonesian governments agreed to bring Veloso back to Manila after 10 years of diplomacy and consultation regarding her case.
In 2010, Veloso was arrested at Adisucipto International Airport in Yogyakarta after she was found in possession of more than 2.6 kilograms of heroin.
Veloso maintained she was unaware of the contents of her luggage, saying that these were only given to her by her recruiters, identified as Julius Lacanilao and Maria Cristina Sergio. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
