MANILA – The Indonesian government are planning to return detained Filipina worker Mary Jane Veloso to the Philippines by the end of the year.
According to senior minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto had already approved the transfer of Veloso.
“Our target is hopefully at the end of December, the transfers of these prisoners will have been completed,” Mahendra said in an interview with AFP.
Veloso, 39, was arrested in 2010 after arriving in Indonesia with 2.6 kilograms of heroin hidden in her luggage. She has consistently maintained her innocence, claiming she was duped by recruiters who exploited her desperation to escape poverty.
Her 2015 execution was postponed after a groundswell of international advocacy and intervention by the Philippine government.
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., meanwhile, said previously that the government still needs to study calls on granting clemency to Veloso.
“We will see. Hindi pa maliwanag kung ano ba talaga… This is the first time that this has happened. So everything is on the table,” Marcos said in an interview.
“We have been working on this, all the previous Presidents, hindi lang ako. Ten years na ito. Pero ang nagawa natin napa-commute natin ang sentensya nya from death sentence to life imprisonment,” Marcos Jr. added./PN
