Mary Jane Veloso flies home to 'new life'

MANILA, Philippines — A Filipina who spent nearly 15 years on Indonesia's death row landed in Manila Wednesday morning where she was taken to a local prison following a repatriation deal years in the making.

Mother of two Mary Jane Veloso, 39, was arrested and sentenced to death in 2010 after the suitcase she was carrying was found to be lined with 2.6 kilograms (5.7 pounds) of heroin, in a case that sparked uproar in the Philippines.

A commercial plane carrying Veloso and Philippine correctional officials arrived in Manila at daybreak, Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo said, following a handover agreement that removed the possibility of her execution.

She was taken to a Manila prison for women about an hour later, AFP journalists on the scene saw.

"This is a new life for me, and I will have a new beginning in the Philippines," a tearful Veloso had earlier told a press conference in Jakarta, adding she wanted to spend Christmas with her family.

"I have to go home because I have a family there, I have my children waiting for me."

The Philippine corrections bureau said in a statement that the overnight flight to Manila "marked the end of a harrowing chapter in Veloso's life".

Manalo thanked Jakarta "for this humanitarian action", adding in a statement: "Their generosity has made this momentous day of Ms. Veloso's return to the Philippines, possible."

Under the handover agreement, Veloso's sentence now falls under the Philippines' purview, "including the authority to grant clemency, remission, amnesty and similar measures".

Indonesia's government said it would respect any decision made by Manila.

Philippine officials have said their ultimate objective is to win Veloso a pardon from President Ferdinand Marcos.

"I am very happy today, but to be honest I am a little sad, because Indonesia has been my second family," she said before singing the Indonesian national anthem.

"I hope you will all pray for me. I have to be strong."

Veloso thanked the leaders of both countries before making a heart sign with her hands and shouting "I love Indonesia!"

The handover was attended by Indonesian immigration and corrections staff and representatives from the Philippine embassy in Jakarta and corrections officials from Manila.

Before addressing the media, she broke down in tears as she called her children and parents.

Veloso's travel document was stamped with a deportation mark and she will be banned from re-entering the country, according to Indonesian officials.

Her mother Celia Veloso, 65, has called for President Marcos to grant her clemency so she can spend Christmas with her family.

'Miracle'

In her first interview since the repatriation agreement, Veloso told AFP on Friday that her release was a "miracle".

Showing off her traditional Indonesian batik creations in prison, she said she had also learned guitar and how to play volleyball.

She was due to face the firing squad in 2015, but the Philippine government won a last-minute reprieve after a woman suspected of recruiting her was arrested and put on trial for human trafficking and Veloso was named a prosecution witness.

"I bring a lot of things, such as guitar, books, knittings... even this T-shirt I'm wearing was given by my friends," she said on Tuesday when leaving a Jakarta prison for the airport.

Muslim-majority Indonesia has some of the world's toughest drug laws and has executed foreigners in the past.

At least 530 people were on death row in the Southeast Asian nation, mostly for drug-related crimes, according to data from rights group KontraS, citing official figures.

According to Indonesia's Ministry of Immigration and Corrections, 96 foreigners were on death row, all on drug charges, as of early November.

Indonesia last week transferred home the five remaining members of Australia's "Bali Nine" and is in talks with France over the release of Serge Atlaoui, who has been jailed in the Southeast Asian archipelago since his 2005 arrest.

President Prabowo Subianto had agreed to fulfil their requests to hand back some prisoners who were sentenced on drug charges.