Filipina inmate on Indonesia death row, Mary Jane Veloso (C) waves as she is repatriated to the Philippines after a press conference at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang on 17 December 2024. A Filipina inmate sentenced to death in Indonesia was moved to capital Jakarta before she is expected to fly home on 18 December, after the government signed an agreement to repatriate her.
JUNI KRISWANTO / AFP
Filipino trafficking victim Mary Jane Veloso, who is currently detained at the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City, once again has appealed for her release from imprisonment.
In an open letter dated 28 January, Veloso asked the government to release her from jail, as it is difficult for her to see her parents, already of old age, who travel 8-10 hours from Nueva Ecija and have sufficient money for transportation and food to visit her.
"Nais ko lang po na malaman nyo kung gaano ako nahihirapan na makita ang mga magulang ko na may edad na," she writes in an open letter to President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.
"Hindi na nila alintana ang kanilang mga nararamdaman dahil may edad na nga sila makita lang nila ako para lang maibsan ang kanilang pangungulila," she added.
Veloso has been detained at the Correctional Institute for Women following her transfer from death row in Indonesia to the Philippines in December 2024.
"Ngunit sa di maipaliwanag na dahilan heto po ako isang taon na ang nakalipas nandito pa rin nakakulong kahit wala akong kasalanan at wala din po akong nagawang masama sa ating bansa," Veloso said.
"Nawa'y ipagkaloob na po sa akin ang pagkakataon na maalagaan ko ang aking mga magulang habang buhay pa sila at lalong lalo na sa aking mga anak na hindi ko man lang nasubaybayan ang kanilang paglaki. Gusto ko pong ipadama sa kanila na mayroon silang ina na sobrang nagmamahal sa kanila," she added.
In November 2025, Veloso's parents asked the Supreme Court to release their daughter as her detention in the Philippines had no legal basis.
Gabriela Party-list has also filed a resolution urging President Marcos to grant clemency to Veloso, who was spared from execution in Indonesia.
Veloso was convicted by an Indonesian court of drug trafficking in 2010.
She was initially sentenced to death. However, her death sentence was commuted in 2015 amid a strong appeal from the Philippine government during the term of late President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino 3rd.
She was able to return to the country in 2024 after President Marcos and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto agreed that she could serve her sentence in her home country as a show of Prabowo's goodwill.
