MANILA — Detained overseas Filipino worker in Indonesia Mary Jane Veloso has been given three days left to live.
She could be executed on Tuesday, April 28, together with nine other convicts on death row.
Veloso’s younger sister, Marites, confirmed the news that prosecutors gave the 72-hour notice on Saturday afternoon(April 25) while Mary Jane was with her family.
The next three days will be spent with her family. Celia, Mary Jane’s mother, noted her daughter’s courage and faith.
Celia said, “Sabi niya, ‘Baka ito na plano ng Panginoon sa’kin. Kung pagbibigyan niya ko na mabuhay pa, gagamitin ko para sa pagsisilbi’ (Maybe this is God’s plan for me. If He spares me, I will use my life for service).”
Should the Indonesian government refuse to grant her clemency, Mary Jane has requested for her siblings—Marites and Christopher—to wait for her body and bring her remains back to the Philippines.
Veloso’s legal counsel Edre Olalia from the National Union of People’s Lawyers said they will not lose hope as long as Mary Jane is alive.
On April 24, Veloso’s lawyers filed an appeal to the Indonesian court to review the case, citing Veloso’s recruiter Maria Kristina Sergio who allegedly tricked Veloso to carry a suitcase where the drugs were found. Included in the appeal was documentation from the Indonesian National Commission on Violence Against Women that Veloso is a victim of human trafficking.