Marcos says Veloso sentence reduced to life, credits PH-Indonesia ties

By Darryl John Esguerra, Philippine News Agency

Marcos made the pronouncement as he bared that Indonesia had reduced the death sentence of Veloso to life imprisonment. (PCO file photo)

MANILA – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Thursday credited the strong and deep relationship between the Philippines and Indonesia for saving the life of Mary Jane Veloso.

Marcos made the pronouncement as he bared that Indonesia had reduced the death sentence of Veloso to life imprisonment.

In a media interview in Nueva Ecija, Marcos said the commutation of Veloso’s death sentence to life imprisonment was his administration’s initial goal.

“Since I came into office, what we were trying to… what we were working on it was tanggalin na siya sa (to have her removed from) death row, to commute her sentence to life [imprisonment],” the President told reporters.

“Noong nangyari ‘yun, (When that happened) when we were able to achieve that, we continued to work with them. It was still with the Widodo government at that time,” he added, referring to former Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

The President said the flourishing relationship between Manila and Jakarta carried on to the leadership of Widodo’s successor, President Prabowo Subianto, which then paved the way for Jakarta’s eventual decision to approve the transfer of Veloso.

“Dahil maganda naman ang ating relasyon, nakahanap sila – gumawa sila ng paraan, (Since we have a good relationship, they looked for ways to do it), this is the first time they did this,” he said.

Veloso was jailed in 2010 and was sentenced to death in the same year after 2.6 kg. of heroin was found in her suitcase.

She was spared from the firing squad at the last minute in 2015, after Philippine officials asked then President Widodo to let her testify against her illegal recruiters who are being tried in the country.

Since then, the Philippine government made unprecedented efforts to appeal her case.

On Wednesday morning, Marcos announced that Indonesia had agreed to transfer Veloso to the Philippines, which Jakarta later confirmed.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said the two sides will iron out the details of Veloso’s transfer.