January 11, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — After celebrating Christmas with her family last month, Mary Jane Veloso again got a chance to reunite with her loved ones during her 40th birthday yesterday.
Veloso was with her parents, two sons, other relatives and supporters during the celebration inside the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City.
It was the first time that Veloso celebrated her birthday in the Philippines after spending 14 years on death row in Indonesia for drug trafficking.
A photograph shared by migrants group Migrante International showed Veloso’s parents and her sons smiling outside the CIW grounds while carrying food.
Last Christmas, the Veloso family also brought her favorite food items tinumis, sinigang na baboy and spaghetti, among others.
Celia, Mary Jane’s mother, said that while the Veloso family is sad over the continued incarceration, they are also not losing hope that President Marcos will eventually grant her clemency.
Migrante chairperson Joanna Concepcion urged Marcos to pardon Veloso, saying Mary Jane ended up as a victim of human trafficking.
“Now that she has been in the country for nearly a month, Marcos should use his unbound power to grant her clemency if he truly cares to make a stand against human trafficking, which has become so pervasive in our country,” Concepcion said.
Among Veloso’s other visitors on her birthday were Makabayan president Liza Maza and former representatives Ferdinand Gaite and Eufemia Cullamat of Bayan Muna.
Maza said Marcos must end the injustice suffered by Veloso by giving her full and absolute clemency, as she wished that it would be Veloso’s last birthday celebration in prison.
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