The Department of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday said the Philippine government has sent legal interrogatories to Jakarta for Mary Jane Veloso to answer, marking a new development in the case of the Filipina migrant worker facing the death penalty in Indonesia.
In a message to Malacañang reporters, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro said the interrogatories are part of Veloso’s ongoing testimony against her illegal recruiters.
An interrogatory is a written question that is put to one party in a case by another party and which must be answered.
“It was established during President Widodo’s official visit that the legal interrogatories required from the Philippine Regional Trial Court have been sent to Jakarta for Ms. Veloso to answer,” Lazaro said in a Viber message.
She added that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. expressed optimism that the “progression of the case will merit her clemency at the appropriate time.”
Lazaro said the Philippine government further reiterated its commitment to supporting Veloso, adding that Manila will continuously exhaust all efforts to assist her and her family.
“Last Christmas, (Ms. Veloso’s family) was able to visit and spend several days with her through the assistance of the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Philippine Embassy in Jakarta,” Lazaro said.
Law enforcement officials arrested Veloso in 2010 for carrying a suitcase lined with 2.6 kilograms of heroin. She was later sentenced to death.
However, she won a last-minute reprieve from the firing squad in 2015 after a woman suspected of recruiting her was arrested in the Philippines.
Veloso’s family sent letters
As President Marcos and Indonesian President Joko Widodo met at Malacañang on Wednesday, a group said Veloso’s family delivered letters to both heads of state, pleading for a pardon.
Migrante Philippines chairperson Arman Hernando said the Presidential Security Group permitted the Veloso family’s attorney entry into the Palace to deliver the letter.
“President Widodo, I am Celia Veloso, the mother of Mary Jane Veloso, pleading and appealing for your help in securing the release of my child who has suffered for fourteen years, innocently enduring hardship and pain,” read the handwritten letter addressed to the Indonesian President.
“I hope you understand me as a parent... I implore you to set her free for the sake of Mary Jane’s two children,” it added.
Despite being found guilty and meted the death penalty for drug trafficking in 2010, the group aid Veloso has been asserting that she is innocent and was a victim of human trafficking. She said she was unaware that the suitcase her recruiters had given her had heroin sewn in the lining.
