A petition for a writ of habeas corpus has been filed before the Supreme Court seeking the immediate release of Mary Jane Veloso, with her family arguing that her continued detention in the Philippines is unlawful and without legal basis.
Veloso was sentenced to death in Indonesia in 2010 for drug trafficking — a charge she has consistently denied — before receiving a last-minute reprieve in 2015. She was repatriated to the Philippines in December 2024 and has since been held at the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City.
The petition names Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Chief Gregorio Catapang Jr., CIW Superintendent Marjorie Ann P. Sanidad and Department of Justice (DOJ) Acting Secretary Fredderick A. Vida as respondents.
The Veloso family maintains that there is no valid legal instrument — whether a treaty, Philippine judicial order or statute — authorizing her continued confinement.
According to the petition, Veloso’s return to the country after nearly 15 years in Indonesian custody was the result of a diplomatic or “practical arrangement” between the Philippines and Indonesia. Petitioners noted that the full terms of this arrangement have not been made public nor disclosed to Veloso, her family or her legal counsel, despite formal requests.
Counsel for the family argued that without a treaty governing her transfer — similar to the agreement that allowed Francisco Juan “Paco” Larrañaga to serve his sentence in Spain — the executive arrangement cannot acquire the force of Philippine law and therefore cannot justify detention.
The petition further asserts that only judicial or statutory authority permits imprisonment within Philippine territory, and that relying solely on diplomatic agreements would allow the Executive Department to exercise penal powers reserved exclusively for the courts.
Veloso’s camp also emphasized that she has been officially recognized by both the DOJ and the trial court handling her recruiters’ case as a victim of qualified trafficking, and therefore cannot legally be punished for an offense that was a “direct consequence of her trafficking.”
The petition cites Section 17 of Republic Act No. 9208 (Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act), which states that trafficked persons “shall not be penalized for crimes directly related to the acts of trafficking.”
It also invokes the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, which the Philippines ratified, asserting that its “non-punishment principle” supersedes any permissive cooperation clause under the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC).