MANILA — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has granted Mary Jane Veloso an absolute pardon, clearing the way for the release of the Filipino who spent nearly 15 years imprisoned in Indonesia before being transferred back to the Philippines in 2024.
Marcos confirmed on Friday that he had signed the pardon a day earlier, ending years of uncertainty over Veloso’s fate following her return to the country.
“Pinirmahin ko na ‘yung pardon niya kahapon,” Marcos said.
The President’s action came just days after Malacañang confirmed that his administration was considering granting Veloso an absolute pardon on humanitarian grounds.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro earlier said the government was seriously reviewing the grant of clemency and indicated that Marcos could make a decision before Christmas or even earlier, although she initially gave no definite timetable.
Veloso was arrested in Indonesia in 2010 after authorities found heroin concealed in her luggage. She was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to death.
After years on death row, Veloso was transferred to the Philippines in December 2024 under an agreement between Manila and Jakarta and was detained at the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong.
Her transfer followed more than a decade of diplomatic efforts between the Philippine and Indonesian governments. Marcos previously said Indonesia imposed no condition preventing the Philippines from considering clemency after her return.
Veloso and her family had repeatedly appealed for executive clemency, maintaining that she was a victim of human trafficking and had been deceived into carrying the luggage in which the illegal drugs were discovered.
Castro also said earlier that the Philippine government did not need Indonesia’s approval for Marcos to grant Veloso an absolute pardon.
The pardon marks a dramatic turn in Veloso’s case, which once brought her within hours of execution in Indonesia and became one of the Philippines’ most closely watched overseas Filipino worker cases./PN
