Marcos pardons Mary Jane Veloso

Already have Rappler+? Sign in to listen to groundbreaking journalism.

TEARS OF JOY. Mary Jane Veloso is emotional during a video call with her family before a press conference, prior to her repatriation to the Philippines, at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta, Indonesia, December 17, 2024.

This is AI-generated. Read the article for full context. Report any errors.

MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. pardoned former overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Mary Jane Veloso, paving the way for the embattled worker’s freedom after 16 years.

Marcos confirmed on Friday, September 25, that he has pardoned Veloso.

“Pinirmahan ko na. Pinirmahan ko na ‘yong pardon niya kahapon (I signed it already. I signed her pardon yesterday),” the President said in a chance interview.

“FINALLY! See you, Mary Jane!” said Edre Olalia, Veloso’s lawyer from the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL).

Veloso had been sentenced to death in Indonesia over drug trafficking. 

A pardon is a form of executive clemency granted post-conviction. What Marcos gave Veloso is absolute pardon which extinguished her criminal liability from the case. 

The Parole and Probation Administration said absolute pardon “restores to the individual his civil and political rights and remits [or cancels] the penalty imposed for the particular offense of which he was convicted.”

Veloso left the Philippines in 2010 to work as an OFW and provide for her two children. Her neighbor, Cristina Sergio, offered her a job in Malaysia.

While en route, she was rerouted to Yogyakarta, Indonesia, with a new suitcase given to her by her recruiters. Airport security found that the suitcase contained a stash of heroin, which Veloso unknowingly brought with her.

Months later, she was sentenced to death over drug trafficking. However, she and her lawyers from the NUPL have always maintained her innocence, saying that her recruiters tricked her into becoming a drug mule.

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

After almost a decade in detention, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto agreed to transfer Veloso to the Philippines. Indonesia also gave Marcos the discretion to grant Veloso clemency.

A week before Christmas in December 2024, Veloso arrived in the Philippines. She has been detained at the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City since then. 

Upon her return, Veloso asked Marcos to grant her clemency. “Pakiusap ko sa Pangulo, sana mabigyan na niya ako ng clemency.” (My appeal to the President is that I be given clemency.)

In the past two years, her family, lawyers, and advocates had called on Marcos to grant Veloso clemency or pardon. The President granted the request with only two years left into his term.

OFW rights group Migrante International called the pardon “a historic victory for the global people’s movement that has long fought for freedom and justice for Mary Jane.”

“The countless organized vigils, rallies and protest actions, prayers, petition signing, phone, letter and noise barrages, forums and lobbying efforts for the past 11 years have all challenged government leaders to act. Our calls for freedom reverberated around the world,” Migrante said.

The group, however, questioned why Veloso was not immediately granted pardon after her arrival in the Philippines in December 2024.

“While he ultimately heeded the relentless call of the people to free Mary Jane, let us not forget that Marcos has committed a grave injustice by prolonging her detention in Philippine prison for one year and nine months, when no charges have been brought against her in Philippine courts,” Migrante said.

“Our movement must continue to hold government officials accountable for neglecting to uphold the rights of migrant workers and demand justice and protection for all other migrants who are victims of human trafficking facing unjust detention and criminalization.” – Rappler.com