A Catholic bishop has joined calls for clemency for Mary Jane Veloso, the overseas Filipino worker spared from execution on drug trafficking charges in Indonesia.
Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of San Carlos on Monday celebrated Mass in Manila with Veloso’s parents, praying for the OFW’s freedom.
“We stand with Mary Jane’s parents in expressing gratitude that she will be able to return home… and we sincerely pray that she will be granted clemency,” Alminaza said.
Migrants’ advocates, along with representatives from Caritas Philippines and the bishops’ Commission on Migrants and Itinerant People (ECMI), gathered for the Mass at the CBCP chapel in the Intramuros district.
Concelebrants included CBCP secretary general Msgr. Bernardo Pantin and Fr. Rico Ayo, executive secretary of the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Family and Life.
The bishop said it’s “sad and painful” that OFW’s like Veloso leave their families to work abroad only to be faced with injustice and hardship.
Veloso has consistently maintained her innocence, saying she was duped by her recruiters into carrying a suitcase with heroin.
After years of negotiations, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr earlier announced that Indonesia had agreed to return Veloso, who has been on death row for over a decade.
Marcos also said Indonesia had reduced Veloso’s death sentence to life imprisonment and that clemency for her is “on the table.”
No date for Veloso’s return has been set, but reports indicate it could happen before Christmas.
She will remain behind bars to serve her sentence after being transferred to Philippine authorities.
“I hope Veloso truly receives the coveted gift or grace of freedom and [can] be with her family,” Alminaza said.
