Mary Jane Veloso’s recruiters ordered to comment on questions for her testimony


By NICOLE-ANNE C. LAGRIMAS, GMA News
A Nueva Ecija court has ordered the alleged recruiters of Filipina death row inmate Mary Jane Veloso to comment on the prosecution's proposed questions for the taking of her testimony in Indonesia.
The Nueva Ecija Regional Trial Court Branch 88 gave Maria Cristina Sergio and Julius Lacanilao five days from receipt of an October 16 order to file their comment on the questions for direct examination.
The trial court issued the order days after the Supreme Court (SC) decided to allow the taking of Veloso's testimony by way of deposition through written interrogatories, reinstating the same judge's older ruling that was reversed by the Court of Appeals in 2017.
After receiving the High Court's ruling on October 15, the lower court said the prosecution had already submitted proposed questions for Veloso's direct examination and that Sergio and Lacanilao's failure to comment within the 5-day period will be considered a non-objection.
They face charges for human trafficking, illegal recruitment and estafa.
But in an urgent motion filed Tuesday, the defendants urged the Nueva Ecija court to defer any further action on the order for comments because the SC decision is not yet final.
They said the trial court ordered them to comment on the proposed questions on its own, without any "triggering action" from the prosecution -- an act they called "premature, if not inordinate."
Their lawyers said they are not ready to submit a comment as they should still be given "full opportunity" to avail of remedies under the Rules of Court, such as filing a motion for reconsideration before the SC.
Veloso was sentenced to execution by firing squad after she was convicted of drug trafficking for being caught with 2.6 kilograms of heroin in her luggage at Yogyakarta airport in 2010.
The Filipina said she was tricked by her recruiters into smuggling illegal drugs into Indonesia.
She was spared from execution in 2015, after Sergio surrendered to authorities. Then-President Benigno Aquino III had proposed to the Indonesian government that Veloso be turned into a witness.
The SC decision allowing her to testify came weeks before what would have been the final opportunity for the government and for Veloso's lawyers to present her as a witness.
But the October 28 hearing may now be held to address pending issues and prepare for the deposition, said Edre Olalia, the Veloso family's lawyer in this case.
He said the taking of Veloso's testimony would still have to be arranged. — RSJ, 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