Marcos grants absolute pardon to Mary Jane Veloso
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. confirmed he signed the order granting absolute pardon to detained overseas Filipino worker Mary Jane Veloso.
In an ambush interview on Friday, Sept. 25, Marcos told the media, "Pinirmahan ko na 'yung pardon niya kahapon."
During House deliberations on the 2027 budget of the Office of the President two days ago, Sept. 23, Gabriela Women's Party-list Rep. Sarah Elago asked House Committee on Appropriations Senior Vice Chair Albert Garcia for an update on the administration's efforts regarding Veloso's pardon.
"The Office of the President is seriously considering granting an absolute pardon to Mary Jane Veloso on humanitarian grounds in support of the government's commitment to protecting Filipino migrant workers," Garcia said at the time.
Drug trafficking charges
Veloso was arrested at Adisucipto International Airport in the city of Yogyakarta, Indonesia on April 25, 2010 after officials found her in possession of over 2.6 kilos of heroin. The OFW said she was unaware of the contents of her luggage. She explained her recruiters Maria Cristina Sergio and Julius Lacanilao gave her the luggage.
Nevertheless, Veloso was sentenced to death by firing squad on April 29, 2015.
In February 2015, then-President Noynoy Aquino appealed her case to then-Indonesian President Joko Widodo during the latter's state visit in the Philippines. Aquino followed up his appeal with three subsequent letters.
Two days before Veloso's scheduled execution, the National Bureau of Investigation filed before the Department of Justice charges of illegal recruitment, human trafficking, and estafa against Sergio and Lacanilao. The next day, the couple turned themselves into the Cabanatuan City police headquarters seeking protection following death threats Sergio supposedly received.
Hours before her scheduled execution, Widodo granted Veloso a reprieve, allowing her to testify against her recruiters. In December 2024, after spending nearly 14 years in an Indonesian prison, Veloso was repatriated to the Philippines, but remained in detention at the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong.
