Mary Jane allowed to testify vs illegal recruiters

MANILA, Philippines - A local court has allowed domestic worker Mary Jane Veloso to testify against her alleged recruiters on April 27 in Yogyakarta in Indonesia.

The 32-year-old Veloso, who is on death row in Indonesia, was convicted in October 2010 for drug trafficking. She was caught with 2.6 kilograms of heroin at an Indonesian airport.

Judge Anarica Castillo-Reyes of Regional Trial Court Branch 88 in the Sto. Domingo, Nueva Ecija issued a four-page resolution last Feb. 13 on Veloso’s case, National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) president Edre Olalia said yesterday.

In a statement, the NUPL said the court in Nueva Ecija that is hearing the illegal recruitment and human trafficking cases filed in 2015 against Veloso’s recruiters Maria Cristina Sergio and Julius Lacanilao denied an attempt to stop the taking of Veloso’s testimony through deposition.

The court only ordered the taking of Veloso’s testimony after the Court of Appeals (CA) reportedly did not issue any temporary restraining order or writ of preliminary injunction that would have prevented the taking of Veloso’s deposition.

It also invoked the Office of the Court Administrator’s Circular No. 151-2010 mandating trial courts to hasten the disposition of cases of trafficking in persons.

“Finally, after protracted and tedious legal wrangling over quite novel circumstances, Mary Jane will be able to freely tell her whole story and cruel ordeal which will be officially considered by the Philippine trial court,” the NUPL said.

“Being the victim, Mary Jane is the most credible and competent witness that could prove not only the guilt of the accused in these Philippine cases but, eventually and more importantly, the full and unabbreviated circumstances that led to her conviction in Indonesia,” it added.