Mary Jane Veloso spends 40th birthday in the Philippines, but in jail
MANILA, Philippines – Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipina who was formerly on Indonesia’s death row, is finally celebrating her birthday in her home country on Friday, January 10, but still behind bars.
Veloso, who was 25 when she left the Philippines for a job as a domestic worker, turned 40 on Friday. Her family traveled from Nueva Ecija to celebrate with her at the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City, where she has been detained since her transfer to the Philippines on December 18, 2024.
Veloso’s parents, sons, sisters, and some supporters brought with them plenty of food for their celebration inside the prison, including her favorite pork adobo.
While Veloso isn’t too fond of sweets, her sister Darling said Mary Jane called the day before to request biko, a sticky rice cake, for around 30 people — her new friends inside.
“Ang birthday wish ko ‘yung makalaya na siya, para makapiling na namin si Mary Jane. ‘Yung talagang layang laya na talaga,” said Celia, Mary Jane’s mother, prior to going inside the CIW. (My birthday wish for Mary Jane is her freedom, so we can finally be with her. True freedom.)
In the days leading up to her birthday, Veloso’s family and supporters went around their area in Nueva Ecija to gather support and signatures for a renewed call to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to grant her clemency for her birthday.
“Regalo ng taumbayan kay Mary Jane sa kanyang kaarawan…ang lalong malakas na panawagan at pagkakaisa para sa kanyang paglaya,” said former Gabriela representative Liza Maza on Thursday, January 9. Maza joined the campaign in Nueva Ecija on Thursday.
(The people’s gift to Mary Jane for her birthday is a louder, unified call for her freedom.)
Veloso’s 30th birthday in 2015 was supposed to be her last. When she flew to Yogyakarta, Indonesia, in April 2010, airport security found 2.6 kilograms of heroin hidden in a suitcase given to her by her recruiters. Though Veloso held that her recruiters duped her into becoming their drug mule, Indonesia convicted and sentenced her to death for drug trafficking just months later. (READ: The story of Mary Jane Veloso, in her own words)
The administration of the late president Benigno Aquino III went through several years of attempting to convince Indonesia to pardon Veloso, to no avail. Human rights groups amplified a global campaign to spare her life. In April 2015, just when Veloso was about to be executed, Aquino made a last-minute call to then-Indonesian foreigner minister Retno Marsudi to turn her into a state witness.
Aquino said Veloso’s participation in a case against her recruiter, Cristina Sergio, could help Indonesia pin down an international drug syndicate. Indonesia then granted Veloso a stay in her execution.
Over the years, the illegal recruitment case against Sergio and her alleged accomplice, Julius Lacanilao, proceeded in a Nueva Ecija court. While Veloso remained incarcerated in Yogyakarta, her lawyers worked towards getting her to testify, since a conviction for Sergio would help Veloso’s appeal for clemency from then-president Joko Widodo. In 2020, Sergio was found guilty of illegal recruitment in a case distinct from Veloso’s.
Up until present, Veloso has been unable to testify in her case against Sergio, who is also detained at the CIW. Indonesia’s new president, Prabowo Subianto, allowed Veloso’s transfer back to the Philippines in November 2024 to live out the rest of her sentence. Upon her arrival back on Philippine soil, Veloso’s life was officially spared from the death penalty, since such a penalty no longer exists in the Philippines.
Veloso reunited with her family at the CIW on the day she was transferred. Authorities had said that she has the same rights and privileges of all persons deprived of liberty, including a chance at presidential pardon. But despite renewed calls for Marcos to pardon her, the President has yet to grant this plea.
Marcos said legal experts are considering Veloso’s plea for clemency. – Rappler.com