December 18, 2024 | 12:40pm
MANILA, Philippines — Speaking to the Philippine press for the first time in 15 years, drug trafficking victim Mary Jane Veloso appealed to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for executive clemency.
“Sana po mabigyan na niya (Marcos) ako ng executive clemency,” Veloso said, shouting to the members of the media from inside the barbed-wire enclosed facility
(I hope he will grant me executive clemency).
‘Sana mabigyan na niya (President Marcos) ako ng clemency.’
LOOK: Mary Jane Veloso along with her family inside the reception and diagnostic center at Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City. | via @IanLaquiPatrickpic.twitter.com/8I18AU43L3
— Philstar.com (@PhilstarNews) December 18, 2024
Veloso made the plea after undergoing a medical checkup at the Reception and Diagnostic Center at the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City. She was finally reunited with her family, after they were not allowed to meet her at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3.
On Wednesday, December 18, Veloso began her five-day quarantine inside the correctional facility, in accordance with the protocol for newly committed individuals.
Marcos remained silent on the issue of granting clemency to Veloso, a power granted exclusively to the president by the Constitution.
In a statement on Wednesday, Marcos expressed his gratitude to the Indonesian government for the successful transfer of Veloso to Philippine custody.
“We assure the Filipino people that Ms. Veloso’s safety and welfare is paramount and our agencies in the justice and law enforcement sector shall continue to ensure it, as our Indonesian counterparts have safeguarded it for so long,” Marcos said in a statement.
“The Philippine government welcomes the imminent transfer of Ms. Veloso which was made possible by our strong friendship and cooperation with the Indonesian government,” he added.
GCTA can be applied
In a press conference at the correctional institution, Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasquez said that the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) already applies to Mary Jane Veloso.
However, Vasquez added that the Department of Justice will continue to review the available legal processes for Veloso’s case.
The GCTA is a law that is a mechanism to reduce sentences of persons deprived of liberty, including individuals convicted of heinous crimes.
In an interview with Philstar.com, Justice Assistant Secretary Mico Clavano said that all the court documents submitted by the Indonesian authorities are still in Bahasa.
“Aaralin pa namin yung decision doon sa Indonesia, kasi records na binigay sa amin is all in Bahasa. Give us time to translate para malaman talaga natin kung ano yung laman ng mga records na ‘yon,” Clavano said.
(We still need to study the decision from Indonesia because the records provided to us are all in Bahasa. Give us time to translate them so we can fully understand the contents of those records.)
One aspect that the DOJ will examine is whether the Indonesian legal system has a law similar to the GCTA that could be applied to Veloso’s case.
“We’ll see if we can credit whatever good conduct time allowance, she is a very talented woman, gumagawa siya ng batik (she is making batik), she plays the piano, so I don’t think good conduct is a problem,” Clavano said.
Veloso was arrested in 2010 on drug trafficking charges after being found with a suitcase containing 2.6 kilograms of heroin.
She was convicted and sentenced to death, but in 2015, the Indonesian government granted a last-minute reprieve following an appeal by the late President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.
As her legal and physical custody is transferred to the Philippines, she will continue to serve her prison sentence.
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