Mary Jane’s release is historical for the overseas Filipino workers.

She was tired as seen in her puffy eyes. But her smile was evident upon being reunited with her loved ones after 16 years.

Finally, Mary Jane Veloso was released from prison. 

“I’d like to eat pinakbet and inihaw na bangus,” Veloso replied to a reporter’s question about what she would eat once she is home in Nueva Ecija. 

Aside from eating pinakbet, Veloso said that all she wanted was to take a rest. 

Veloso was released from the Correctional Institute for Women (CIW) on the night of September 25 after Ferdinand Marcos Jr. granted her absolute pardon. 

Veloso spent 16 years in prison, 15 years in Indonesia and a year and half at the CIW. 

For Migrante International and National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (among the groups that had led the fight for her freedom), Veloso should have been freed when she came back to the Philippines because she did not commit any crime in the country.

Read: Full Text: Mary Jane Veloso narrates how she ended up in death row

“Kung may tiyaga may nilaga,” Veloso said as she faced the media in a press conference on September 26. She thanked her family who did not leave her in her battle, as well as those who supported her and called on the government to grant her absolute pardon.

“I did not see my children grow up, my parents were travelling just to see me even if their bodies were frail. This is why I am so elated to see so many people who loved and supported me,” Veloso said in Filipino acknowledging the efforts of those who rallied despite the scorching heat.

She recalled the time when she was in the maximum security prison island in Indonesia on the day of her execution on April 29, 2015. “I prayed to God to save me. I was saved, I was not executed. To think that it was only 20 minutes before the execution, it would be impossible. But it did not happen,” Veloso recalled tearfully, adding that it was only 20 minutes left for her execution when the last minute reprieve happened. 

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Veloso thanked organizations who helped her sustain her needs in CIW like the Gabriela Women’s Party List who included her in their support to political prisoners detained in the said facility. 

Surreal 

For Maria Sol Taule, human rights lawyer and deputy secretary-general of Karapatan, it is surreal to see that Veloso is finally free. “I was just a law student then at the height of the Save Mary Jane campaign in 2015,” Taule said at a press conference with the Veloso family. 

She said that while Veloso is finally free, there are still many like Veloso overseas who face their own legal battles and who miss their family just to provide for them. “Let us continue to fight, freedom of Mary Jane is not the end of our fight for better social services.” 

Josa Deinla, secretary-general of National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, also recalled that she was not yet a lawyer when she became part of the legal team who took on Veloso’s case. “I recalled back then I was thinking my first client would be sentenced to death. It was a baptism of fire as they say.”

She described Veloso as an epitome of hope and bravery. “She did not lose hope even at the last hour that she would be sentenced to death,” Deinla said, adding that they truly admire her being hopeful and strong amid the circumstances. 

“We always say in NUPL, we have brave clients, that is why we also need to be brave for them,” Deinla said. 

Celia, Veloso’s mother, had almost given up on the thought that she would never be reunited again with her daughter. She said that when they came from Indonesia to visit Veloso and they have not been receiving news after their visit, no hearing and no update from Migrante, she said to herself, “Maybe Mary Jane was born to live in Indonesia. So I said, ‘Lord, please take care of Mary Jane.”

Then one day, Migrante International’s Chairperson, Joanna Concepcion came to tell the family that Veloso would be coming home from Indonesia. “I told her, ‘Joanna, wag mo nga kaming lokohin,” Celia said, adding that they were extremely happy that she was finally home in December 2024 but it pained them that Veloso would still have to be detained.

Celia thanked Migrante and those who helped them to visit her daughter in Indonesia and when she was finally brought back to the Philippines. 

Concepcion meanwhile thanked those who supported the Save Mary Jane campaign here and abroad. “Mary Jane’s release is historical for the overseas Filipino workers, for the Filipinos. Our journey in fighting for Mary Jane’s freedom is long and tough, our campaign took 11 years.” 

She also acknowledged the persistence of Veloso’s family in fighting for her freedom. “They continued to fight and did not waver.” 

Concepcion reiterated it is the Filipino people who continued to call for clemency for Veloso that pushed the government to sign the absolute pardon. “The year and a half detention of Mary Jane in CIW is an injustice. She did not have a case here in the Philippines, it is easy for Marcos Jr to just sign the absolute pardon immediately but he did not do it.”

Clarice Palce, secretary-general of Gabriela, challenged the Marcos Jr administration to produce more jobs in the country so that mothers will not have to leave the country to work overseas. “There are still one million women who are leaving the country for work and they are vulnerable to abuse, we do not want that.” (DAA)