DMW provides psychosocial, livelihood aid to Mary Jane Veloso

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The Department of Migrant Workers is providing interventions to former overseas Filipino worker Mary Jane Veloso, including psychosocial and livelihood aid, after she was granted absolute pardon, Malacañang said Monday.

“Kasamang sa mga ongoing interventions ng DMW ang psychosocial counseling, livelihood starter kits, enterprise capital at skills training,” Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said during a press briefing.

(Among the ongoing interventions of the DMW are psychosocial counseling, livelihood starter kits, enterprise capital, and skills training.)

“Tiniyak ng ahensya na patuloy ang mga hakbang nito upang masiguro ang maayos na reintegration ni Mary Jane at ng kanyang pamilya sa panibagong yugto ng kanilang buhay,” she added.

(The agency assured that it would continue its efforts to ensure the smooth reintegration of Mary Jane and her family as they begin a new chapter in their lives.)

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office 3 earlier provided P30,000 cash aid to Veloso and P10,000 to her parents.

DSWD will also distribute P30,000 each to Veloso’s children today, Castro said.

On Saturday, Veloso returned to her hometown and was warmly welcomed by her friends and family in Barangay Burol, which she had not seen for 16 years. The municipality also gave her a cake and a tarpaulin to mark her personal milestone.

The District Court of Justice of Sieman in Yogjakarta, Indonesia sentenced Veloso to death on October 11, 2010, but it was commuted in 2015 following an appeal from the late President Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III.

Veloso maintained that she was innocent and that she was unknowingly used as a drug mule.

In December 2024, Indonesian authorities agreed to transfer Veloso to Philippine custody. She was detained at the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City, initially serving reclusion perpetua, which carries a prison term of 20 years and one day to 40 years. —Mariel Celine Serquiña/RF, GMA News