{"id":48333,"date":"2015-05-06T18:20:01","date_gmt":"2015-05-06T10:20:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=48333"},"modified":"2015-05-06T19:24:57","modified_gmt":"2015-05-06T11:24:57","slug":"velosos-parents-refuse-to-apologize-for-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2015\/05\/06\/velosos-parents-refuse-to-apologize-for-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Veloso\u2019s parents refuse to apologize for now"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Cesar<\/a>
Cesar and Celia Veloso (left), parents of drug trafficking convict Mary Jane Veloso, during a prayer vigil night prior their daughter’s scheduled execution on April 29. Veloso was then granted temporary reprieve. (Photo courtesy of Migrante International)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA \u2013 With drug trafficking convict Mary Jane Veloso granted temporary reprieve from execution, her parents, Cesar and Celia Veloso refuse to give credit to the Philippine government\u2019s efforts in sparing their daughter\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

Mr. and Mrs. Veloso would not apologize for not acknowledging the local government\u2019s assistance in the criminal case their daughter is still facing. The couple also asserted that the government only acted on the case in the \u2018last two minutes.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cHindi po muna magsosorry ([We] will not say sorry yet),\u201d Mrs. Veloso said in a television interview. Her husband shared the same sentiment as hers.<\/p>\n

But if Veloso will be permitted to return to the country and will be granted full pardon, only then will Mr. and Mrs. Veloso apologize and forgive the Aquino administration for its slow assistance in their daughter\u2019s case.<\/p>\n

Although not grateful, the couple still appreciated the local government\u2019s last-minute efforts, \u2018if there were any.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cKung may nagawa po talaga siya (Aquino) ay maraming salamat (If he had really done something, then we would thank him,\u201d Mr. Veloso said.<\/p>\n

When asked if their refusal to acknowledge the government\u2019s efforts were influenced by non-government organizations which helped and supported them, Mrs. Veloso was firm on saying no.<\/p>\n

\u201cWala pong nagtuturo sa amin. May sarili po kaming pag-iisip (No one is teaching us [on what to believe and do]. We have our own minds,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n

Mrs. Veloso also shared how she asked for help to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Vice President Jejomar Binay years ago, but was only shunned.<\/p>\n

\u201cPuro pangako po. Parating sinasabi, gagawin namin lahat pero walang nangyari,\u201d she recalled. \u201cSabi po sa amin ng abogado, \u2018Sa dami ng drugs na nakuha sa anak niyo, bitay na \u2018yan.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

(All promises. [They] always said, they will do everything they can but nothing happened. A lawyer told us, \u2018With the large amount of drugs taken from your daughter, she will surely be sentenced to death.)<\/p>\n

President Benigno Aquino III, for his part, did not take anything against Mr. and Mrs. Veloso. Instead, he tried to understand the situation the couple was facing.<\/p>\n

\u201cHindi po galit. Walang ganoong pakiramdam ([He\u2019s] not angry. There\u2019s no such feeling),\u201d Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma said in a phone interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cLubos and pag-unawa ng ating gobyerno sa kanilang sitwasyon. Kung anoman ang makakabawas sa kanilang pinapasan. Napakahalaga ng buhay ni Mary Jane. Nandito po tayo para gampanan ang katungkulan,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

(Our government has utmost understanding on their situation. \u00a0Whatever may ease their burdens. Mary Jane\u2019s life is very valuable. We are here to do our duty.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA \u2013 With drug trafficking convict Mary Jane Veloso granted temporary reprieve from execution, her parents, Cesar and Celia Veloso …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":48344,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ph","mauthors-jane-moraleda","mauthors-philippine-canadian-inquirer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}