Detained Mary Jane Veloso hopes to reunite with aging parents

Marcos’ hollow promises to study Mary Jane’s case are not enough.

TORONTO – To be with her aging parents and to take care of her children.

These are what Mary Jane Veloso asks for. Sixteen years after her arrest in 2010 in Indonesia and 11 years after reprieve from death row in 2015, Veloso has spent around one year in prison at the Correctional Institute for Women in the Philippines.

On January 28, Veloso, a victim of human rights trafficking, wrote an open letter from prison to express gratitude and appeal for continued support in the campaign for her freedom.

While Veloso has been brought home, her struggles continue and years after she was taken off death row, she remains behind bars.

According to Veloso, it has not been easy for her seeing her aging parents traveling 8-10 hours from Nueva Ecija just to visit her, finding money for transportation fares and food to bring her, and even putting aside their own health conditions. 

“I hope to be given the opportunity to take care of my parents while they are still alive and especially my children whom I did not have the chance to watch grow up. I want to make them feel that they have a mother who loves them very much,” Veloso wrote.

Veloso’s case reflects familiar stories of the 8,000 Filipinos who leave the country every day to give their families a better life, only to face illegal recruiters, precarious working conditions, harassment, and more. Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) like Veloso give up time away from family to provide for their family’s needs like food, education, and healthcare.

According to migrants’ rights group Migrante International, the Marcos Jr. government has received multiple petitions and appeals calling for clemency for Veloso but no action has been taken. Veloso’s supporters and family also filed an appeal urging the justice system to expedite her case against her traffickers, as well as a habeas corpus petition questioning the legality of her detention in the Philippines.

“Together, our voices and protests saved the life of Mary Jane from execution. Now, as Marcos Jr. refuses to hear her every appeal for her freedom, let us collectively amplify Mary Jane’s story and voice from prison to Malacañang and win her the justice and freedom she deserves,” said Joanna Concepcion, chairperson of Migrante International.

Hollow promises

Upon learning about Veloso’s open letter, Presidential Communications Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said that the letter should have been “addressed personally or conveyed directly” to the president so “a proper decision can be made regarding this matter.”

Josie Pingkihan, deputy secretary general of Migrante International, rebuked this and said that Veloso and her family reached out multiple times and all that came back to her were vague claims that Marcos was looking into the issue.

“Mary Jane was clear in her appeal for freedom when she was returned to the Philippines. On Mary Jane’s 40th birthday, the Veloso family submitted a letter appealing for clemency, along with thousands of petition signatures for Mary Jane’s freedom. They went back months later to submit even more petitions, together totaling 13,537 signatures,” Pingkihan said.
“Marcos’ hollow promises to study Mary Jane’s case are not enough. What she needs, what her thousands of supporters around the world demand, is freedom and justice. Mary Jane’s testimony and case against her traffickers should suffer no more delays. Her habeas corpus petition should proceed and be heard. And she should be granted the freedom she deserves. We stand with Mary Jane Veloso in her aspiration to reunite in the free embrace of her parents and children while they still can,” Migrante said. (DAA)

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