PHL gov’t exhausting all means to save Filipina from Indonesian death row

MANILA — The government is doing everything it can to save a Filipina who has been sentenced to die in Indonesia after she was caught transporting illegal narcotics into the country, a Palace official said on Saturday.

“Ginagawa naman po ng ating pamahalaan ang ating magagawa (Our government is doing what we can) within the legal framework of Indonesia to be able to push for her case,” Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said in an interview aired over dzRB Radyo ng Bayan.

“As Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario has already said, the Philippines will continue to push other legal avenues to help her case,” Valte said.

Mary Jane Veloso, 30, has been sentenced to die by firing squad in Indonesia after she was apprehended at the Yogyakarta Airport in April 2010 for carrying 2.6 kilograms of heroin in her luggage.

Her family has insisted that the drug seized from Veloso’s luggage was secretly put there by a relative.

Veloso’s relatives in the Philippines were recently saddened by Indonesia’s Supreme Court decision to reject the Philippine government’s request for a judicial review of her case in the hope of saving her from the death sentence.

Before the request for a judicial review, a plea for clemency had been previously dismissed.

A second appeal for judicial review is being considered, Secretary del Rosario has said, adding he is confident that there will be no execution within the next two weeks.

He said his department is doing everything possible to explore all other options.