Veloso kin welcomes Indonesia’s move to stop prioritizing executions

The family and lawyers of Mary Jane Veloso, the Filipina convicted in Indonesia for drug smuggling, expressed hope Friday that Indonesia’s decision to stop prioritizing executions will lead to the permanent abolition of death penalty or her clemency this Christmas.
In a press statement Friday, Veloso’s family and counsels said Indonesia’s decision was certainly welcome not only for Mary Jane but for all concerned.
“The purported rationale for the non-priority of executions as pronounced by Indonesian authorities (i.e. to focus on the economy) may be amorphous and not self-evident but the objective net effect is that lives are saved and will be saved,” the statement stated.
The statement was released by the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers whose secretary general, lawyer Edre Olalia, is one of the those representing Veloso in the case.
Veloso’s family and lawyers said they are praying that Mary Jane's own temporary reprieve will be made permanent or that she be granted clemency “and be brought home soon to the waiting arms of her little boys this coming holiday season.”
“We hope in time it leads to a permanent abolition as we have serious reservations about the death penalty's real value in effectively deterring crime and it precludes rehabilitation and reformation while not giving weight to humanitarian considerations,” it further stated.
It added that death penalty may victimize innocent individuals who are wrongly convicted for different reasons or factors “and bring them irretrievably to the afterlife.”
They also said that they will pursue the  illegal recruitment, human trafficking, and other charges filed against her recruiters amid efforts to delay the proceedings.
Veloso was arrested in April 2010 at the Yogyakarta Airport. She was then convicted for possessing 2.6 kilograms of heroin in her luggage.
She was supposed to be executed earlier this year in Indonesia via firing squad, but she was spared on the last minute after the Indonesian government agreed to let her first participate in the case against her recruiters in the Philippines.
Her alleged recruiters Maria Cristina Sergio and Julius Lacanilao are facing charges before Baloc, Sto. Domingo Regional Trial Court Branch 37 in Nueva Ecija. -Amita Legaspi/NB, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more