News
DFA hopeful Veloso can still give deposition vs. recruiters
MANILA–The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) expressed hope that drug mule Mary Jane Veloso may still be given a chance to give her deposition against her recruiter.
This after the Court of Appeals issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) stopping Veloso from testifying in the criminal case against her recruiters from her detention cell in Indonesia.
In a three-page resolution dated March 24 penned by Associate Justice Associate Justice Ramon Bato Jr. and concurred by Associate Justices Manuel Barrios and Renato Francisco, the CA’s 11th Division granted the immediate relief sought in the petition filed by Veloso’s detained recruiters, couple Ma. Cristina Sergio and Julius Lacanilao for it to issue a temporary restraining order and or writ of preliminary injunction for the deposition set for April 27 as ordered by Nueva Ecija Regional Trial Court Branch 88 Judge Anarica Castillo-Reyes.
“We will await the time that Mary Jane is given the opportunity to give her statement in a deposition which is crucial in the case filed versus her alleged recruiters. We are confident that justice will ultimately be served,” Jose said in a text message.
In a 4-page resolution dated February 13, RTC Presiding Judge Anarica Castillo-Reyes said despite several and multiple steps by the accused recruiters overtime, the court had not received or was not aware of any hold order or any writ of preliminary injunction that would prevent the conduct of Mary Jane’s deposition in Indonesia.
Veloso was scheduled to be executed in 2015 for charges of drug trafficking but was spared from capital punishment after Julius Lacanilao and Kristina Sergio surfaced.
Lacanilao and Sergio had admitted to being part of an international drug syndicate responsible for the drug trafficking charges that put Veloso on death row.