Marcos urged to grant clemency to Mary Jane Veloso

A resolution was filed urging President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to grant clemency to Filipina drug convict Mary Jane Veloso, who was spared from execution in Indonesia.

House Resolution No. 583 filed by Gabriela Party-list Representatives Sarah Jane Elago recognized Veloso as a victim of human trafficking and noted that her continued detention prolonged the “grave injustice” she has endured.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                "Ang pagbibigay ng clemency ay hindi pagbalewala sa batas. Isa itong makataong hakbang na malinaw na kinikilala ng ating Saligang Batas. May kapangyarihan at may pananagutan si President Marcos Jr. na itama ang isang malinaw na inhustisya,” Elago said, as posted on Gabriela’s social media account.

(Granting clemency is not a disregard for the law. It is a humane measure clearly recognized by our Constitution. President Marcos Jr. has both the power and the responsibility to correct a clear injustice.)

Veloso, who was convicted by an Indonesian court of drug trafficking in 2010, was initially sentenced to death.

Her death sentence was commuted in 2015 amid a strong appeal from Philippine officials led by the late President Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III.

Veloso was able to return to the country in 2024 after Marcos and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto agreed that she could serve her sentence in her home country as a show of Prabowo's goodwill.

READ: TIMELINE: Mary Jane Veloso, from OFW dreamer to death row inmate

During her privileged speech earlier today, Elago called for Veloso’s clemency.

“Patuloy pa rin ang pagpapanawagan ng mamayanan katuwang ang kanyang pamilya, ang kanyang mga kaanak na magkaroon na ng pag gawad ang Malacañang ng clemency para kay Mary Jane Veloso,” Elago said.

(The public, together with her family, continues to call on Malacañang to grant clemency to Mary Jane Veloso.)

In November, Veloso’s parents asked the Supreme Court to release her because her detention in the Philippines had no legal basis, as they filed their petition for the writ of habeas corpus (right against illegal detention).

Malacañang earlier said that it is looking at a positive development in the appeal of Veloso’s family and supporters to grant her full and absolute clemency. —Mariel Celine Serquiña/ LDF, GMA Integrated News