While Filipina death row convict Mary Jane Veloso is already aware of reports regarding her execution in Indonesia, she supposedly told her mother, Celia, that she would only believe the report if it came from the Philippines.
In an interview on QRT, Celia related that Mary Jane told her, “Nanay, napanood ko sa TV na pumayag na si Pangulong Duterte na bitayin ako, pero hindi ako naniniwala hangga’t hindi diyan sa Pilipinas manggagaling ang balita.”
(“Mother, I caught the news on TV saying that President Rodrigo Duterte said that I should be executed, but I won’t believe it unless the news comes from the Philippines.”)
For her part, Celia, who joined a candle-lighting ceremony for Mary Jane in Manila on Tue afternoon, Sep 13, reiterated that they “are still waiting for Duterte to meet with them to personally inform them what transpired between his meeting with Widodo.”
“Nagmamakaawa kami sa ating Pangulo. Alam kong galit na galit siya sa droga, kaya lang si Mary Jane po biktima rin po ng droga,” Celia said.
(“We ask for the President’s mercy. I know he hates drugs, but Mary Jane is also a victim of drugs.”)
Celia emphasized that the family won’t listen to what reports say. They will only listen to what Duterte himself says, as they are expecting to have a meeting with him.
The report recalled: “Mary Jane, a mother of two, was sentenced to death in Indonesia for bringing 2.6 kilograms of heroin to the Yogyakarta Airport in 2010. Her execution by firing squad was put on hold in 2015 to allow her to testify against the recruiters in the Philippines who allegedly duped her into bringing the illegal drugs to Indonesia.”
Duterte has not yet spoken to the Veloso family.
When Duterte was once again asked about his encounter with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, he explained, “We never mentioned Veloso. Sinabi ko lang, we will respect the judgment of your courts. Period.”
He added, “It would have been a bad taste in the mouth to be talking about—having a strong posture against drugs, and here you are begging for something.”
