Mary Jane Veloso's kin asks SC to act swiftly on petition seeking her release

The kin of Mary Jane Veloso, the overseas Filipino worker who was convicted in Indonesia for drug trafficking, filed a motion for resolution urging the Supreme Court (SC) to immediately resolve a November 2025 petition seeking her release.

On Friday, Veloso's parents and members of advocacy group Migrante International staged a protest in front of the SC in Manila to renew their call for her release, according to GMA News' Sandra Aguinaldo.

"Higit na limang buwan na po ang lumipas mula nang maisampa ang nasabing petisyon at ako po ay patuloy na naghihintay sa magiging pasya ng korte. Sa bawat araw na dumaraan, umaasa po ako na ito ay mabibigyan ng pansin," Veloso said in a handwritten open letter to SC Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo dated April 30.

(It has been five months after we filed the petition and we are still awaiting the Court decision. With each day that passes, I am hopeful it will be resolved.)

"Hindi ko po layuning ulitin ang mga argumento ng aking mga abogado sa aking petition ngunit lubos ang aking paniniwalang walang legal na ako ay nananatiling nakapiit lalo na sa ilalim ng sentensiyang reclusion perpetua," her letter added.

(I do not intend to repeat the arguments my lawyers laid out but I strongly believe there is no legal basis for my continued detention especially under a sentence of reclusion perpetua.)

Veloso, who is currently detained at the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City, said she found out she was allegedly detained for reclusion perpetua as indicated by her carpeta or inmate record at the jail facility. Under the Revised Penal Code, reclusion perpetua carries a sentence of 20 years and 1 day up to 40 years.

"Sa darating na Mother's Day ngayong May 10 ay ika-17 beses na akong mawawala sa piling ng aking dalawang anak. Ganito na katagal na silang walang nanay na gumagabay at kumakalinga sa kanila," her letter reads.

(This coming Mother's Day on May 10, it would be 17 years that my children have no mother to guide and take care of them.)

"Umaasa po ako na sa lalong madaling panahon ay mabigyan ng kaukulang aksyon ang aking petition," she added.

(I hope that my petition will be given appropriate action immediately.)

Veloso had been imprisoned in Indonesia for nearly 15 years on drug trafficking charges before Indonesian authorities agreed to transfer her custody to the Philippines in December 2024, following the signing of practical arrangements between the Indonesian government and the DOJ for her official transfer.

She was initially meted out a death sentence, but this was commuted in 2015 amid a strong appeal from the Philippine government led by the late President Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III.

Her family has repeatedly called for her release, appealing to President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to grant her clemency.

Malacañang previously said the Office of the Executive Secretary is reviewing the legal provisions surrounding her case, as well as the Philippine government's engagements with Indonesia. — VDV, GMA News