Marcos on granting clemency for Mary Jane Veloso: 'Malayo pa tayo doon'
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said that granting clemency to Mary Jane Veloso, the overseas Filipino worker sentenced to death in Indonesia, is still "far off."
After Veloso was brought home on Dec. 18 morning, Marcos was asked by reporters about the possibility of giving her an absolute pardon.
The mother of two, who was brought to the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong, said she was happy to have been brought home. She also appealed to Marcos for clemency.
"Malayo pa tayo roon. We still have to have a look at what her status is," the president told reporters on Dec. 19, adding that he is aware of Veloso's request.
"We will leave it to the judgment of our legal experts to determine whether the provision of clemency is appropriate."
Marcos continued to say that Indonesia did not provide any conditions regarding Veloso's case. "It's really up to us. But we're still at the very preliminary stage of her pag uwi."
Earlier in the day, Department of Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasquez told reporters that the agency is not against granting Veloso clemency.
"'Yan naman pag-uusapan ng maigi at lahat na sinabi ng ating Pangulo na it's on the table, everything is on the table," he said.
Meanwhile, Indonesia said it would respect any decision made by the Philippines after the Filipina worker was returned home, including if she was given clemency. However, she is now banned from coming to Indonesia.
On April 25, 2010, Veloso was apprehended at Adisucipto International Airport in the city of Yogyakarta after authorities found her in possession of over 2.6 kilos of heroin. She said she was unaware of the contents of her luggage, noting that it had been given to her by her recruiters Maria Cristina Sergio and Julius Lacanilao.
Veloso was sentenced to death in April 2015, but was granted a last-minute reprieve from execution after appeals made by the late former president Noynoy Aquino. Sergio had also surrendered to authorities.
On Nov. 20, Marcos announced that he reached an agreement with the Indonesian government to bring back Veloso to the Philippines.
