“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 about our OFWs who have become victims of human trafficking. There is no more reason to delay her freedom.”
“Mary Jane Veloso is not a criminal but a victim of human trafficking. Her homecoming should not be treated as a prisoner transfer but as the return of a Filipino who has suffered enough.” — former Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate
Mary Jane Veloso’s accounts reveal the realities of Filipino migrant workers who are victimized by human traffickers. Mary Jane’s family and supporters call for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to grant her clemency, a conditional release of a person deprived of liberty (PDL), mitigating the consequences of criminal liability.
Mary Jane Veloso’s path continues, we hope, back in the Philippines and out of prison.
“We hope that our government will put Mary Jane in a safe place, and that she will be granted clemency by our government,” said Celia Veloso, Mary Jane’s mother, during the program commemorating the birth of Andres Bonifacio last November 30 (Saturday).
Veloso’s case was brought to international attention after she was sentenced to die in Indonesia. Prior to this, her family spent more than five years seeking government assistance to prove that she was a victim of human trafficking.
After almost 14 years of imprisonment, Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipino on death row in Indonesia, has a chance of coming back home to the Philippines.
Mark Danielle pleaded to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to seek clemency for Mary Jane as she is a victim of human trafficking. “We hope that President Bongbong Marcos will heed our call. We miss her terribly. She is a victim,” Mark Danielle said.
This year marks the 13th year of Mary Jane’s detention on death row. And while there is no imminent threat of execution since she was granted a temporary reprieve by the Indonesian government in 2015 to allow her to testify against her traffickers in an ongoing legal case in the Philippines as a victim of human trafficking, Mary Jane does not deserve to be imprisoned for another single day.
“I hope she will be given clemency at the soonest possible time so we can be together. Our life in the Philippines may be simple, but what’s important is that we are together.”
“Notably, none of the elements of the alleged importation of drugs into Indonesia took place in the Philippines. In fact, the Philippines as the sending country is where Veloso was illegally recruited in order to be trafficked or exploited in two other receiving states. Veloso is, thus, a victim, not a criminal who must be punished.”