The Hong Kong’s domestic worker community heaved a huge sigh of relief last night as Indonesia postponed the execution of Filipina Mary Jane Veloso, who was arrested in 2010 and sentenced to death for allegedly smuggling 2.6 kilograms of heroin into the country.
Veloso’s life was spared after Maria Kristina Sergio, a woman claiming to have recruited and deceived her into carrying the contraband items, surrendered herself to the Philippine police yesterday.
Following the development, the Indonesian government agreed to give Veloso the opportunity to testify as a witness against Sergio and other perpetrators of human trafficking.
Though Veloso is safe for the time being, the migrant worker community in Hong Kong blames the Philippine government for failing in its duties so far.
In a press statement, Eman Villanueva, Chairman of the Filipino Migrant Workers’ Union Hong Kong & Macau said, “the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) was too quick to quit even as people on the streets and even in the social media refuse to put hope to rest.”
Though the DFA maintains that it has exercised all possible legal and diplomatic approaches to expedite the release of Veloso, Chairman of the International Migrants Alliance Eni Lestari claims the Philippine government didn’t provide Veloso with a capable legal team.
“There was no Philippine ambassador at the time,” Lestari said to a group of migrant workers outside the Philippine consulate this afternoon.
“The only lawyer given to her was only an ordinary lawyer appointed by the [Indonesian] court. And the only interpreter given to her was a student from a university who hasn’t even graduated yet.”
She added that the government of Benigno Aquino only became more active in Veloso’s case once the matter became an international issue.
The group has called for Philippine embassy officials in Indonesia to resign for their “pathetic assistance to Mary Jane”, and demanded the government compensate Veloso, a mother of two, for her time and anguish while in detention.
Indonesia executed eight other death row prisoners last night, despite intense international pressure.
Photos: Kevin Dharmawan for Coconuts Hong Kong
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