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| The protesters are confident Veloso will be acquitted if she's allowed to tell her story in court |
By Vir B. Lumicao
Filipino workers in Hong Kong have asked President Rodrigo Duterte
to pressure Indonesia to let Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipina on death row in
Yogyakarta for drug trafficking, give evidence so she can tell the truth and
gain freedom.
The workers, representing various groups such as United
Filipinos-Migrante in Hong Kong and Gabriela
HK, held a short rally at the Consulate on Monday, Oct 28, to ask the
Philippine government to save the life of Veloso.
Veloso has claimed that her recruiters, Maria Cristina P.
Sergio and Julius L. Lacanilao, tricked her into smuggling 2.5 kilograms of
heroin into Indonesia, an offense for which she was found guilty and sentenced
to death.
She was scheduled to face a firing squad on April 29, 2015
but was given a last-minute reprieve after Sergio and Lacanilao surrendered to
Philippine police.
On Oct 11, the Philippine Supreme Court allowed Veloso to
testify against Sergio and Lacanilao by way of a deposition in Indonesia.
However, Nueva Ecija’s Regional Trial Court has yet to heed the highest court’s
ruling.
Monday’s rally coincided with the RTC’s move to give
prosecutors a final chance to call their last witness in the human trafficking and
estafa cases versus Sergio and Lacanilao. The trial’s outcome will determine
whether Veloso will be exonerated or shot.
Unifil chair Dolores Balladares-Pelaez said the rally was part of a global mass
action to appeal to both Duterte and Indonesian President Jokowi to allow
Veloso’s deposition as evidence in her human trafficking case in Nueva Ecija
and drug case in Yogyakarta.
“Nakapagtataka na hanggang ngayon, kahit umamin na ang
kanyang mga human traffickers ay hindi pa binibigyan si Mary Jane ng
pagkakataon na magsalita bilang witness sa kanyang sariling kaso,” said Pelaez.
She said that the case is crucial to Veloso, to her family
and to all OFWs because if she does not get acquitted, it would show that any
migrant worker can be accused, convicted and sentenced to death even if she is
not guilty.
Gabriela chairperson Sheila Tebia said each day that Veloso
remains in jail on reprieve, her life is still in danger.
“Ayaw natin na sa makabagong panahon ay magkakaroon muli
tayo ng isang Flor Contemplacion,” she said.
“Marami pa pong mga kaso ng death penalty (ng mga Pilipino)
na nasa iba’t ibang bansa. Marami pang pamilya ang umaasa na pauwiiin at agad
matugunan ang kaso ni Mary Jane Veloso,” Tebia said.
Contemplacion, also an OFW, was hanged by Singapore on Mar
17, 1995 for the murders of fellow helper Delia Maga and her 4-year-old ward
Nicholas Huang, despite pleas for her life by the President Fidel V. Ramos.
Rev. Joram Calimutam urged the Philippine and Indonesian
governments to let Veloso speak so that she can tell the truth about her case
as, he said, “the truth will set her free.”
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