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BY RYAN CHUA
ABS-CBNNews.com
Mary Jane Veloso’s mother Celia and older brother Christopher spent a sleepless night on the eve of her execution by firing squad, giving up any hope she would be spared at the last minute.
On Monday, April 27, it appeared all their hopes were dashed: A district court in Yogyakarta denied Mary Jane’s petition to have her drug trafficking case reviewed for a second time.
The Attorney General’s Office of Indonesia also declared there will be no clemency for her just hours after President Benigno Aquino III spoke with Indonesian President Joko Widodo and asked him to stop the sentencing.
Celia and Christopher spent most of Monday night thinking about the next day, when Mary Jane is scheduled to be executed along with eight other drug convicts on Nusakambangan island off the coast of Central Java.
Celia said in Filipino, “To be honest, we are losing heart. But not Mary Jane. We would refrain from crying when we visit her because as soon as she sees us, she would immediately say, ‘No crying. I don’t want anyone to cry.'”
Mary Jane’s family and lawyers have been visiting her on the prison island since the past weekend. The meetings became opportunities not only for the family to reunite, but also for Mary Jane to tell them her final wishes.
Among the wishes was for Celia to wear the same clothes during the execution Mary Jane wore when authorities arrested her for supposedly smuggling heroin to Indonesia, which has one of the toughest anti-narcotics laws in the world. Mary Jane maintains she did not know the luggage she was carrying, which supposedly came from a recruiter, contained illegal drugs.
Mary Jane has also told her sons about her real situation, Celia said, and reminded other family members to take care of one another.
Besides asking that her remains be brought back to the Philippines immediately, she also asked her older brother Christopher and sister Maritess to remain on the island during the exact time of the execution. It is expected to take place at 5 p.m. (Indonesia time) or much later.
Christopher admitted he was having a hard time thinking about his sister’s impending execution. He said, “Until now I still don’t know if I’d be able to handle it. But because she wants it that way and requested me to do it, she was able to make me sign and agree to it.”
Celia said she and the entire family are putting up a strong front because it is what Mary Jane wants. “We are forcing ourselves to be strong. But tomorrow, I can’t promise I can still be,” she disclosed.
This article has been re-published with permission from ABS-CBNnews.com.
Photo: News clip
