Veloso’s transfer to Phl now in process – DFA

The transfer of Mary Jane Veloso, an overseas Filipino worker detained in Indonesia, is currently being processed, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Sunday.

According to DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Eduardo de Vega, this was the reason why the scheduled compassionate visit of Veloso’s family in Indonesia this week was canceled.

“The transfer of Ms. Veloso from Indonesia to the Philippines is now being processed. Hence, while the compassionate visit of Ms. Veloso’s next of kin, supposedly scheduled on December 16 to 18, will not be pushing through,” De Vega told DAILY TRIBUNE in a text message.

“[T]he Philippine government requests the family’s continued patience and understanding as it arranges for the best opportunity for them to meet with Ms. Veloso when she is finally back on Philippine soil,” he added.

In a statement, Celia and Cesar Veloso, the detained OFW’s parents, expressed their disappointment earlier over the cancellation of their trip to Indonesia to visit their daughter, whom they said they had not seen in more than a year since their last visit.

According to them, the DFA advised them that their scheduled trip to Indonesia would not be pushed through since Mary Jane was scheduled to transfer to Jakarta from the Yogyakarta Women’s Correctional Institution in Wonosari, Yogyakarta.

“This morning, at 9:13 AM, our family received a notice from the DFA Office of the Undersecretary for Migration Affairs informing us that our planned visit to Mary Jane in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, from December 16 to December 18 will no longer push through,” they said.

“According to the DFA, Mary Jane is scheduled to travel to Jakarta today to begin the process of her transfer to the Philippines, in compliance with the order of the Indonesian Ministry for Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Corrections,” they added.

They noted, however, that the exact date of Mary Jane’s return to the Philippines has yet to be determined.

Despite the cancellation of their scheduled visit to Mary Jane, the OFW’s parents expressed joy that their daughter, who has been detained in Indonesia for 14 years, is about to come home.

“We, the parents and children of Mary Jane, are disappointed that our visit to Mary Jane will not push through, as we had prepared for this and were excited to be with her again after a year since our last visit,” Veloso’s parents said.

They continued: “Nevertheless, we are overjoyed because Mary Jane’s return to our country is fast approaching.”

Indonesia announced last month that Veloso could be repatriated under a new program that allows foreign prisoners to be transferred to their home country through bilateral negotiations.

Veloso, who was born in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, was arrested in 2010 with 2.6 kilograms of heroin in her suitcase at Adisutjipto International Airport in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

Veloso claimed that she was unaware of the illegal substance in her suitcase and blamed her employer, Maria Kristina Sergio, for it.

Five years after her arrest, she was supposed to be executed by the firing squad, however, then-Indonesian President Joko Widodo decided to spare her life due to a last-minute appeal from then-President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.