After years behind bars, Mary Jane Veloso finally walks free

Floyd Brenz., Philippine Canadian Inquirer
September 26, 2026

Photo Courtesy: Maria Tan

For years, freedom was something Mary Jane Veloso could only wait for.

On Friday, that wait finally ended.

Veloso walked out of the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. granted her an absolute pardon, ending nearly 16 years of detention stemming from her drug trafficking conviction in Indonesia.

Her story began in 2010, when Indonesian authorities arrested Veloso after finding 2.6 kilograms of heroin in the suitcase she was carrying. She was sentenced to death and spent years on Indonesia’s death row, while consistently maintaining that she had been deceived into carrying the luggage by people who recruited her for work abroad.

Then came April 2015.

Just hours before she was scheduled to face a firing squad, her execution was halted after Philippine authorities appealed to Indonesia for a reprieve so she could testify against her alleged recruiters. The moment turned Veloso into a symbol of the risks faced by Filipinos seeking work overseas.

In December 2024, after nearly 15 years in Indonesian custody, Veloso was transferred to the Philippines under a prisoner-transfer agreement and brought to the Correctional Institution for Women. The agreement placed her remaining sentence under Philippine jurisdiction, including the authority to grant clemency.

Now, the prison chapter of her life is over.

Bureau of Corrections Director General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. personally handed Veloso her pardon and release documents on Friday. She is expected to return to her family in Nueva Ecija, with the government preparing reintegration support that may include livelihood assistance, social welfare services, counseling and skills development.

For Veloso and her family, the pardon represents more than the end of a long legal ordeal. It is the beginning of a life outside prison — a chance to come home, rebuild and finally move forward.