HOME sweet home Mary Jane Veloso overflows with joy as she is reunited with her family following nearly 16 years in detention over her drug trafficking case in Indonesia. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. recently granted Veloso an absolute pardon, bringing her long ordeal closer to an end.
Photograph by SEAN MAGBANUA for DAILY TRIBUNE
After Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) director general Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. personally released her on Friday night, former overseas Filipino worker Mary Jane Veloso was reunited with her family early Saturday.
Veloso’s release was made possible after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed her unconditional pardon on Friday.
Her family members were fetched from Nueva Ecija and brought to the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City to meet her.
The family boarded a coaster upon arrival at CIW, with Mary Jane’s parents, Caesar and Celia Veloso, and her children.
Wearing a white T-shirt and pants, and her hair in a ponytail, Mary Jane was already at the CIW gate with Bureau of Corrections personnel when her family arrived.
The parents of Mary Jane cried upon meeting her at CIW; inside the car with her parents, Mary Jane said she could not believe that she was freed after the President pardoned her.
Lord is great
Mary Jane said she could not believe it but said the Lord is so good.
To recall, Mr. Marcos on Friday said he already signed on Thursday the document which says he is granting Mary Jane an absolute pardon, paving the way for her release from Philippine prison after once languishing on death row in Indonesia over drug charges.
To recall, on 25 April 2010, Mary Jane was arrested at Adisutjipto International Airport in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, after authorities found 2.6 kilograms of heroin in her luggage and was sentenced to death by an Indonesian court on 11 October 2010.
Mary Jane has maintained her innocence, saying she was unknowingly used as a drug courier after being given a suitcase by her recruiters.
In December 2024, Indonesia agreed to transfer her to Philippine custody after years of diplomatic negotiations.
She arrived in the Philippines on 18 December 2024 and was transferred to CIW to serve the remainder of her sentence under Philippine jurisdiction.
After the necessary procedures were completed, Mary Jane was released from CIW on Friday evening.
Shower of support
Governor Aurelio “Oyie” M. Umali has welcomed the grant of absolute pardon to Novo Ecijano Mary Jane Veloso, adding that her pardon is a deeply meaningful moment not only for the Veloso family but also for the people of Nueva Ecija.
Governor Umali thanked President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. for granting Veloso an absolute pardon.
A team from the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) has immediately coordinated with Mary Jane Veloso’s family in Nueva Ecija to support her comprehensive reintegration, Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said.
“Our instructions are clear: the DMW must stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Mary Jane, her children, and her parents as they rebuild their lives,” Cacdac said.
“Our team heading to Nueva Ecija will work directly with the family and local stakeholders to develop a tailored reintegration program.”
