Mary Jane Veloso finally free after 16 years

REPATRIATION. Mary Jane Veloso gestures during a press conference, prior to her repatriation to the Philippines, at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta, Indonesia, December 17, 2024.

Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana/Reuters

Veloso, who was sentenced to death in Indonesia in 2010 for drug trafficking, is given absolute pardon by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

AT A GLANCE

• Mary Jane Veloso, a former overseas Filipino worker and human trafficking victim, was released from detention after more than a decade following an absolute pardon granted by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
• Veloso was sentenced to death in Indonesia in 2010 for drug trafficking, claiming she was tricked by her recruiters into carrying heroin unknowingly.
• Her release comes after an agreement between the Philippine and Indonesian governments, with her recruiters currently detained for illegal recruitment.

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MANILA, Philippines – After more than a decade in detention, Mary Jane Veloso, the woman who suffered in jail after she was allegedly tricked by recruiters into becoming a drug mule, is finally walking free.

The former overseas Filipino worker and human trafficking victim was released from the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City on Friday night, September 25.

This comes a day after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. granted her absolute pardon on Thursday, September 24.

Bureau of Corrections Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr. handed Mary Jane Veloso a copy of the President’s absolute pardon and presented her official release order from the CIW on Friday night.

In a statement, the bureau said Veloso will be endorsed to the local government unit of her residence in Nueva Ecija “as part of the government’s reintegration,” which includes “access [to] programs and services designed to support her transition back into the community.”

“This only proves that there are really second chances, and we are happy that Veloso can now enjoy her newfound freedom with her family,” Catapang said.

Veloso, who was sentenced to death in Indonesia in 2010 for drug trafficking, was given an absolute pardon by the President. This extinguished her criminal liability. 

In 2010, Veloso was supposed to fly to Malaysia to work as an overseas Filipino worker, but was instead rerouted to Yogyakarta, Indonesia, where her recruiters gave her a new suitcase.

Indonesian authorities found that the bag contained a stash of heroin, which Veloso claimed she unknowingly brought with her. Even after she was sentenced to death due to drug trafficking, Veloso and her lawyers from the National Union of People’s Lawyers maintained that she was innocent and was only allegedly tricked by her recruiters into being their drug mule.

Veloso was scheduled for execution in 2015, but then-president Benigno Aquino III broke protocol at the last minute and called then-Indonesian foreign minister Retno Marsudi to turn Veloso into a state witness. (LOOK BACK: Aquino, Del Rosario, and the phone call that saved Mary Jane Veloso’s life) 

In 2024, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto entered into an agreement with the Philippine government to transfer Veloso to the country. Indonesia also gave Marcos the discretion to grant Veloso clemency.

She arrived in the Philippines in December 2024 and had been detained at CIW since then. 

Veloso’s recruiter Cristina Sergio and accomplice Julius Lacanilao are currently detained after they were found guilty of illegal recruitment in 2020. In June, Veloso took the witness stand and personally testified in the human trafficking and illegal recruitment case against her recruiters. – Rappler.com