MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines welcomed Mary Jane Veloso home Wednesday, December 18 under a landmark arrangement that saw Indonesia transfer full custody of a prisoner for the first time — a move that Manila's top diplomat calls "a mark of trust and friendship" between the two nations.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo lauded Indonesia's "sincere and decisive action" that allowed Veloso to return home before Christmas after she spent 14 years on death row in Indonesia.
"This is a significant achievement for bilateral relations between the Philippines and Indonesia, a mark of the trust and friendship between our two nations," Manalo said in a statement.
While Indonesia maintains its drug trafficking conviction for Veloso, it has handed full legal and physical custody to the Philippines. The move effectively saves the 39-year-old from execution, as the Philippines has no death penalty.
Manalo highlighted the coordinated effort behind Veloso's transfer, acknowledging the Department of Justice's work with former Philippine Ambassador to Indonesia Gina Jamoralin and her team. He also acknowledged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s "steadfast guidance" in securing Veloso's return.
The Department of Foreign Affairs chief also expressed his gratitude to the Indonesian government for its "humanitarian" decision to allow Veloso to return to the Philippines. "We would, therefore, like to take this moment to reiterate our sincerest thanks to the Indonesian government for this humanitarian action. Their generosity has made this momentous day of Ms. Veloso’s return to the Philippines, possible," he said.
The midnight flight that brought Veloso home to the Philippines closes a dark chapter in the life of the mother of two that began in 2010 when she left the Philippines as a hopeful migrant worker. The mother of two was arrested that year for carrying a suitcase containing 2.6 kilograms of heroin at an airport in Yogyakarta. She was convicted and then sentenced to death.
Veloso was hours away from facing a firing squad on Indonesia's Nusakambangan Island in 2015 when government intervention saved her life. Then-President Benigno Aquino broke diplomatic protocol to persuade Indonesian President Joko Widodo to delay Veloso's execution so she could testify against her recruiter, who had surrendered to Philippine authorities. The mother of two was the only one spared among drug convicts sentenced to die that day.
Throughout her 14-year detention, Veloso has maintained she was tricked by an international drug syndicate into becoming an unwitting drug mule.
In his statement, Manalo also thanked the public for their sustained support. "Thank you as well to all our fellow citizens and government employees who continue to support and remember Mary Jane's situation, both during her time in Indonesia and up to the present," he said in Filipino.
Veloso was reunited with family members at the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City, where she was surrounded by National Bureau of Investigation agents, Bureau of Corrections officials, and Department of Justice representatives.
Her homecoming was conducted under tight security after family members reported receiving threats from her alleged recruiters, who they claim to be part of a criminal syndicate. One of these recruiters is currently in detention.
Veloso's lawyers and family have urged Marcos to grant her executive clemency, maintaining that she is a victim of human trafficking.