Mary Jane Veloso reunited with family after release

After being personally released by Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. 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 absolute 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 arrived at the CIW aboard a coaster, with Mary Jane’s parents, Caesar and Celia Veloso, and her children.

Wearing a white T-shirt and pants, with her hair tied in a ponytail, Mary Jane was already at the CIW gate with Bureau of Corrections personnel when her family arrived.

Mary Jane’s parents cried upon meeting her. Inside the coaster, Mary Jane said she could not believe she had been freed after the President granted her pardon.

Mary Jane said she still could not believe it, adding that the Lord is so good.

To recall, Marcos said on Friday that he had signed the document on Thursday granting Mary Jane absolute pardon, paving the way for her release from Philippine prison after she spent years on death row in Indonesia over drug charges.

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. She 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 April 2015, the Philippine government, under President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, appealed to Indonesian authorities to allow her to testify against her alleged recruiters.

In December 2024, Indonesia agreed to transfer her to Philippine custody following 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.