The Philippine government clarified on Monday that no written agreement has been finalized yet between the Philippines and Indonesia regarding the transfer of convicted drug mule Mary Jane Veloso, but ongoing talks have been promising.
“There must be a reason for the President to be this confident,” Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said in a Palace briefing when asked about the details Veloso’s return.
“If you mean may written agreement, wala pa iyong sagot. Pero sila mismo ang unang pumunta sa atin to talk about this. So we are extremely confident it will happen,” de Vega added.
Veloso, who has been on death row in Indonesia for over a decade, became the focus of diplomatic efforts after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. expressed optimism about her eventual repatriation.
According to De Vega, both countries are “fine-tuning the details” of the arrangement, stressing that the discussions do not necessarily mean her release.
“We’re assuring [Indonesia] we’re not indicating that she’s being released,” De Vega explained. “The President did not say she’s free but that she is coming home. And we’ll be expecting the final agreements between both countries on her detention.”
When asked about the length of Veloso’s potential detention in the Philippines, De Vega noted that it would depend on the agreement, but the government hopes it will not exceed a year.
“Hopefully, not even one year. Pero, of course, bottom line, at least nandito siya,” he said. He also clarified that under Philippine law, life imprisonment does not equate to indefinite incarceration.
Indonesia’s Coordinating Ministry for Legal, Human Rights, Immigration, and Correction (Kemenko Kumham Imipas) announced last week that it is exploring the possibility of prisoner transfers for foreign inmates, including Mary Jane Veloso, as part of its constructive diplomatic efforts.
This proposal was raised during a meeting with Philippine Ambassador Gina Alagon Jamoralin, where Coordinating Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra reaffirmed Indonesia’s commitment to upholding its legal sovereignty and enforcing court-imposed criminal penalties.
Veloso was apprehended in April 2010 at Yogyakarta airport for carrying 2.6 kilograms of heroin and sentenced to death by an Indonesian court in October that same year.
In 2015, her execution was halted at the last minute after Philippine authorities arrested a woman allegedly responsible for recruiting Veloso into drug trafficking.
Cases of human trafficking and large-scale illegal recruitment were filed against Veloso’s alleged recruiters, Julius Lacanilao and Cristina Sergio, in a Nueva Ecija court. While the recruiters were convicted of illegal recruitment in 2020, the human trafficking case remains unresolved. (TCSP)
