Veloso kin asks CA to allow testimony vs. recruiters

Veloso’s mother, Celia, joined members of Migrante International in asking the CA 11th Division to reverse its decision that voided the Sto. Domingo, Nueva Ecija Regional Trial Court Branch 88’s decision to allow Veloso to testify against her alleged recruiters Cristina Sergio and Julius Lacanilao. (PNA photo)

MANILA — The family of Mary Jane Veloso, who is in Indonesia’s death row, on Thursday asked the Court of Appeals (CA) to allow her to testify in the criminal case against her recruiters through a deposition.

Veloso’s mother, Celia, joined members of Migrante International in asking the CA 11th Division to reverse its decision that voided the Sto. Domingo, Nueva Ecija Regional Trial Court Branch 88’s decision to allow Veloso to testify against her alleged recruiters Cristina Sergio and Julius Lacanilao.

The group submitted a letter addressed to CA Presiding Justice Romeo Barza.

Attached to the letter is a petition written and reportedly signed by thousands of Veloso’s supporters.

They have also gathered 1,600 signatures online via Change. org in support of their cause.

“We appeal that you consider the merits of the motion and order the immediate taking of Mary Jane’s deposition in Indonesia. We urge you to let Mary Jane have her equal opportunity to testify before the judge as you afford Sergio and Lacanilao their constitutionality-guaranteed rights. Let the light of justice prevail by uncovering the truth about the circumstances which led to the continuing suffering of Mary Jane,” Migrante said in the letter.

Last week, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) has filed a 45-page motion for reconsideration before the Court of Appeals (CA) seeking to reconsider its earlier decision stopping Veloso to testify in the criminal case against her recruiters through a deposition.

Solicitor General Jose Calida said the appellate court “grossly ignored the extraordinary circumstances” of the case when it ruled against Veloso, adding that it should not have strictly applied Section 15, Rule 19 of the Rules of Court which stated that prosecution witnesses may be conditionally examined only on two basis: that the witness is too sick or infirm to appear in court and that the witness has to leave the country with no definite date of return.

The top government counsel said Veloso should be exempted from the said rules considering that she is under detention in Indonesia that now had jurisdiction over her case.

“The People respectfully submits that Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipina OFW convicted of drug trafficking in Indonesia and sentenced to death but granted retrieve, thus, remains under the custody of law in Indonesia, is suffering from an unusual predicament,” part of the OSG’s motion said.

“Verily, her personal appearance before the trial court for the presentation of her testimony cannot be reasonably expected owing to her detention in an Indonesian jail,” it added.

Veloso was arrested in Indonesia in April 2010 for smuggling 2.6 kilograms of heroin.

In October 2010, she was sentenced to death but her execution was put on hold in 2016 after the Philippine government said her testimony would be vital in the human trafficking charges filed against her illegal recruiters.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo stopped Veloso’s execution on April 29, 2015 after then President Benigno Aquino III appealed her case.

Earlier, the Department of Foreign Affairs assured the family of Veloso of the government’s continued support as well as for her to be able to prove she was a victim of human trafficking despite the CA ruling.