Indonesia said they will respect Marcos decision on Mary Jane Veloso -- DOJ

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Justice Undersecretary Deo Marco said Thursday that Indonesia has already stated that it will respect the decision of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Mary Jane Veloso when she returned to the Philippines in 2024 after being detained there for years.

“Sinabi na ng Indonesia na kung anuman ang pasya ng Presidente ay gagalangin nila,” Marco said in a press briefing.

(Indonesia has said that they will respect the President’s decision.)

Last week, Marcos granted absolute pardon to Veloso, paving the way for her release from Philippine prison after languishing on death row in Indonesia over drug charges

Marco also cited a report of a news agency in Indonesia that stated that the Indonesian government is aware and respects the Philippines’ decision.

Meanwhile, Justice Undersecretary Nicholas Ty cited the agreement between the two countries.

Ty said the agreement stated that the “continued enforcement of the sentence of Mary Jane in the Philippines shall be governed by the laws and procedures of the Philippines, including the authority to grant permission, amnesty, or any other form of clemency.”

“Maliwanag sa kasunduan na nung nalipat na si Mary Jane dito sa bansa natin, pasya na ng Pilipinas kung anong mangyayari kay Mary Jane, ‘yung sa pagsilbi ng kanyang sentensya, at kung mabibigyan man siya ng kahit anong executive clemency,” he said.

(It was clear in the agreement that when Mary Jane was brought back to the country, it is up to the Philippine government on what will happen to her, her serving the sentence, and if she will be granted any executive clemency.)

Meanwhile, Ty also cited the non-punishment principle in the country’s human trafficking law in pushing for Veloso’s freedom.

“Ang mga biktima ng trafficking tulad ni Mary Jane ay dapat hindi panagutin ng kriminal doon sa mga bagay na nagawa nila, kahit illegal ito, bilang isang human trafficking victim,” Ty said.

(Victims of trafficking like Mary Jane should not be held criminally liable for the things they did, even if they are illegal, as a human trafficking victim.)

“In other words, kung may mga bagay na pinilit sa kanila or nalinlang sila para gawin, tulad ng pagbitbit ng droga tulad ng nangyari kay Mary Jane, dapat hindi panagutin ito,” he added.

(In other words, if there are things that they were forced or deceived into doing, such as carrying drugs as happened to Mary Jane, they should not be held liable for this.)

Ty said that the non-punishment principle is observed by other countries in Asia.

However, he said that the application is not that simple.

“Kaya doon talaga pumasok lahat ng mga negosyasyon natin, no? Kaya bakit 2015 pa lang kailangan natin mapakita sa Government of Indonesia na may human trafficking case talaga dito sa Pilipinas, may mga naaresto tayong trafficker, at kailangan ang testimony ni Mary Jane sa kasong iyon,” he said.

(That is why all our negotiations really came into play there, right? That is why as early as 2015, we needed to show the Government of Indonesia that there really was a human trafficking case here in the Philippines, that we had traffickers arrested, and that we needed Mary Jane’s testimony in that case.) —AOL, GMA News