Indonesia agrees to transfer Filipina death-row drug convict to the Philippines

MANILA – A Filipina convicted of drug trafficking who was nearly executed by firing squad in Indonesia in 2015 will finally return to the Philippines, after years of negotiations between the two South-east Asian neighbours.

Former domestic helper Mary Jane Veloso, a single mother of two, is “coming home”, said Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on X on Nov 20.

Indonesian authorities detained her after discovering 2.6kg of heroin apparently hidden behind the lining of her luggage in April 2010. She was sentenced to death in October the same year.

Veloso maintained her innocence from the beginning, saying the drugs had been planted.

“After over a decade of diplomacy and consultations with the Indonesian government, we managed to delay her execution long enough to reach an agreement to finally bring her back to the Philippines,” said Mr Marcos.

He thanked Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto for “goodwill”, adding that Veloso’s transfer shows that Manila and Jakarta are “united in a shared commitment to justice and compassion”.

Indonesia allowed Veloso’s return to the Philippines under the condition that the Philippine government recognises her drug trafficking conviction and that she serves the remainder of her sentence in her home country, said Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Corrections Yusril Ihza Mahendra in a statement.

The Philippines will also have to pay for Veloso’s travel back home.

“This is a novel and unprecedented option. I do not know at this time any existing protocol where a foreign national serving a death sentence in another country is being transferred to the home country to serve that sentence,” Veloso’s lawyer Edre Olalia told Philippine Star on Nov 15, when it was first announced negotiations were underway to possibly transfer Veloso to Manila.

Manila is eyeing clemency for Veloso, Philippine foreign ministry official Eduardo Jose de Vega told reporters. But her date of return has yet to be announced.

Veloso’s story mirrors the plight of many Filipino migrant workers abused by their recruiters.

She was born to a poor family in Nueva Ecija province, north of the capital Manila, and once worked as a domestic helper in Dubai to provide for her two sons.

When her contract ended, Veloso returned to the Philippines and later met job recruiter Maria Cristina Sergio, who offered her a similar job in Malaysia in early 2010.

But upon Veloso’s arrival in Kuala Lumpur, Sergio told her the job was no longer available and instead offered her a domestic helper posting in Indonesia. Sergio bought Veloso new clothes and suitcase, as the migrant worker had travelled from Manila only with a small backpack.

Since her arrest in 2010, the Philippine government has assisted Veloso in appealing for judicial reviews and clemency, but all were denied.

She was set to be executed by firing squad in April 2015, but then-Indonesian President Jokowi Widodo granted Veloso an 11th-hour reprieve following a last-minute plea by then-president Benigno Aquino III.

Mr Aquino told the Indonesian leader on the night of Veloso’s scheduled execution that recruiter Sergio had surrendered to the police and admitted to being part of a human-trafficking syndicate that targeted migrant workers.

Sergio is in a Philippine prison while a local court is investigating the case.

Veloso’s reprieve came so close to her scheduled execution that some Philippine newspapers pre-emptively reported she had been killed.

“Mary Jane’s story resonates with many: a mother trapped by the grip of poverty, who made one desperate choice that altered the course of her life. While she was held accountable under Indonesian law, she remains a victim of her circumstances,” said Mr Marcos. 

Indonesia finally agreeing to Veloso’s return is an achievement of Philippine diplomacy and a sign of stronger diplomatic ties between Manila and Jakarta, ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute visiting senior fellow Aries Arugay told The Straits Times.

He added that Mr Widodo’s strong anti-crime policy had prevented this from happening sooner.

Migrant workers rights group Migrante International thanked all those who stood by Veloso and campaigned to spare her life because she was a victim of human trafficking.

“We were all part of this long journey and contributed greatly to this victory,” Migrante said in a statement.

Veloso had been scheduled to be executed in April 2015 alongside eight others convicted of drug crimes unrelated to hers, including Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.

Despite objections from the prisoners’ home countries, which also included Brazil, France, Ghana and Nigeria, Indonesia executed the eight other individuals by firing squad.