In handwritten letter, Mary Jane Veloso tells youth to stay away from drugs

Mary Jane Veloso, the Filipina who is set to be executed in Indonesia on April 28 over drug charges, urged the youth in a handwritten letter to stay away from drugs.

The letter was one of four letters written by Veloso on note paper and disseminated to the media by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs on Sunday. Photos of the letters were also posted on the DFA Facebook page.

Veloso is one of the eight foreign drug convicts set to be executed in Indonesia on Tuesday despite a wave of global criticism led by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Aside from Veloso, those set to be executed by firing squad along with one convict from Indonesia are from Australia, Brazil, and Nigeria. A reprieve was granted to a convict from France after French officials put pressure on Jakarta.

Veloso was visited by her family on Saturday and Sunday at the prison island of Nusa Kambangan, where Indonesia puts condemned prisoners to death. The Veloso family was accompanied by DFA personnel from the Office of Migrant Workers’ Affairs (OUMWA) and from the Philippine Embassy in Jakarta.

In her letter, Veloso said that in the five years that she has been in jail, "araw-araw kong kasama ang mga nalulong sa ipinagbabawal na gamot, karamihan sa kanila ay mga kabataan..."

She said, "Huwag ninyong sayangin ang inyong buhay, huwag kayong gumamit ng ipinagbabawal na gamot..."

 
 

She also sent a message to Filipino women who want to work abroad, telling them to follow the legal procedure and use a legitimate employment agency.

 
 

To those responsible for what happened to her, Veloso hoped that they will be bothered by their conscience.

"Alam ninyong inosente ako at bibitayin ako sa kasalanang hindi ko ginawa..." she said.

 
 

To President Benigno Aquino III, who said that he will appeal her case to Indonesian President Joko Widodo at an upcoming ASEAN summit, Veloso said, "... nagpapasalamat din po ako kay Pangulong Pilipinas Ninoy Aquino bilang ama nang ating Bansa alam ko po na hindi din po tumitigil ang ating Pangulo sa pagtulong at paghanap nang paraan para matulungan po ako at nang hindi matuloy ang hatol na kamatayan sa akin. "

Veloso also thanked Vice-President Jejomar Binay, the Presidential Adviser on Overseas Filipino Workers' (OFW) Concerns.

 
 

Veloso ended this letter by thanking the DFA and other groups who have been working to help her.

" ... Hanggang dito nalang po ang sulat ko, umaasa po ako na makakamit ko po ang katarungan sa nangyari sa akin, nagpapasalamat din po ako sa mga kababayan natin na handang tumulong, ganon din po sa ating Embassy Pilipina Di Jakarta, DFA na umaasikaso sa kaso ko, ganon din sa mga abogado na may hawak nang kaso ko at lahat nang taong tumutulong na mailigtas ako, kahit na hindi sila Pilipina pero handa silang tumulong at palaging nagdadasal para sa kaligtasan ko." — BM, GMA News

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