MANILA, Philippines – After 14 long years of imprisonment in a foreign country where she only wished to provide for her family, Mary Jane Veloso, Indonesia’s only Filipino on death row, returned to the Philippines in the early morning of Wednesday, December 18.

Veloso returned aboard a commercial flight which left Jakarta past midnight on Wednesday, and arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City at around 5:51 am. Philippine corrections officials including Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. flew to Jakarta to accompany her.

According to the BuCor, Veloso was not in handcuffs “or subjected to any instrument of restraint” during the flight.

“Wala naman siyang balak tumakas or saktan ang sarili niya dahil gusto na nga niyang makauwi ng Pilipinas, so bakit pa natin kakailanganin ang posas? Imbis na posas dapat rosas ang ibigay natin sa kanya,” Catapang was quoted as saying in a BuCor release.

(She has no plans of escaping or harming herself because she really wants to return home to the Philippines, so why would we need handcuffs? We should be giving her roses, not handcuffs.)

When Veloso stepped on Philippine soil, her life was officially spared, since there is no death penalty in the country. However, she will not be free to go home just yet.

Veloso will be detained at the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City for at least the next two months.

Though the Department of Justice did not allow Veloso’s family to greet her at the airport gate, they still showed up at the terminal’s arrivals area together with other relatives, private lawyers, and supporters. The media was also not permitted to cover her arrival at the gate.

Veloso’s family and supporters waited at the arrival area starting around 4:30 am, still hoping for a chance to see her as soon as she landed.

Airport police and security enhanced their presence in the area, particularly in the VIP section, where media was told she would exit. Veloso’s lawyer, Edre Olalia, questioned the tight security around her family.

But upon Veloso’s arrival, she was immediately taken to a vehicle which made its way to the CIW. Still holding flowers and a “welcome home” banner, the Veloso family did not even get a glimpse of her.

“Ang sama ng loob ko kasi para bang kriminal ang anak ko,” said Celia Veloso, Mary Jane’s mother. (I feel bad because my daughter is being treated like a criminal.)

Cesar Veloso, Mary Jane’s father, was overcome with emotion. Supporters helped control a media commotion to give him space.

The family then proceeded to the CIW.

The BuCor earlier said Veloso will undergo a five-day quarantine as part of standard procedure for newly committed persons deprived of liberty (PDLs). Here, she will be medically assessed, and after the five days, her family will be able to visit her on Christmas Eve, December 24.

Also after the quarantine, she will undergo a 55-day orientation on PDL rules and rights, diagnostic evaluation, and initial security classification, after which she will be transferred to her assigned corrections facility.

‘Significant achievement’

Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo thanked the Indonesian government for its “generosity” in agreeing to turn over custody of Veloso.

“This is a significant achievement for the bilateral relations between the Philippines and Indonesia, a mark of the trust and friendship between our two nations. We would, therefore, like to take this moment to reiterate our sincerest thanks to the Indonesian government for this humanitarian action,” Manalo said in a statement on Wednesday.

Veloso left the Philippines in 2010 hoping to find work abroad to provide a better life for her two children. She jumped at an opportunity given to her by a neighbor, Cristina Sergio, to work in Malaysia, but was diverted to Yogyakarta with a new suitcase given to her by her recruiters. There, airport security found that the suitcase concealed a stash of heroin, which Veloso unwittingly brought with her.

Veloso was sentenced to death for drug trafficking just months later. But she has always maintained her innocence, claiming that her recruiters duped her into becoming their drug mule.

Her execution was scheduled in 2015. A campaign to spare her life drew support from around the world, and the late former president Benigno Aquino III broke protocol at the last minute to ask then-Indonesian foreign minister Retno Marsudi to turn her into a state witness. He said Veloso could help Indonesia pin down a drug trafficking syndicate.

Veloso’s recruiters, Sergio and her partner Julius Lacanilao, have since been found guilty in an illegal recruitment case distinct from hers. Veloso’s own case against them remains ongoing in a Nueva Ecija court, where she has yet to testify.

After years of her case stalling, Veloso finally received a breakthrough when Indonesia, with new leadership under Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, entered into an agreement to transfer her to the Philippines.

Indonesia has given Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. the discretion to grant Veloso clemency, which her family and supporters have long appealed for. – Rappler.com