The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) has asked the Supreme Court’s Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) to act on a request to hold hearings inside the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City, where Mary Jane Veloso is detained.

In a letter dated 30 October, addressed to Court Administrator Ma. Theresa Dolores C. Gomez-Estoesta, NUPL lawyers followed up on a referral from Regional Trial Court Branch 89 in Sto. Domingo, Nueva Ecija.

The case involves Veloso’s alleged recruiters, Maria Cristina Sergio and Julius Lacanilao, who face charges of qualified trafficking in persons, illegal recruitment and estafa.

Veloso, an overseas Filipino worker, was convicted of drug trafficking in Indonesia in 2010 but was granted an indefinite reprieve to allow her to testify against her alleged traffickers in Philippine courts.

She has consistently maintained that the accused duped her into carrying heroin hidden in her luggage.

The Nueva Ecija court granted a joint request from both the prosecution and defense on 11 June 2025, to hold hearings inside the CIW for security and logistical reasons, and subsequently referred the matter to the Supreme Court for approval.

Veloso was repatriated to the Philippines on 18 December 2024, and has since been held at the CIW, attending court proceedings remotely.

The NUPL, in its letter, reiterated that a prompt decision would “substantially advance the interests of justice” and provide “critical relief” to Veloso and her family.

Attached to the letter was an appeal from Veloso’s family seeking executive clemency. This appeal is consistent with a statement from Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Legal, Human Rights, Immigration, and Correctional Affairs, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, who said Jakarta would respect any clemency decision made by the Philippine government.

The petition stated that the suspension of her execution was intended to allow her to testify against her alleged recruiters and human traffickers.