MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Wednesday that a deal has been reached for Indonesia to send back a Filipino death-row drug convict, who was nearly executed by firing squad but got a reprieve due to years of pleadings from Manila. Marcos thanked Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and his government for granting a longstanding Philippine request for Mary Jane Veloso to be brought back home to serve her sentence in her country.
“Mary Jane Veloso is coming home,” Marcos said in a statement. “Arrested in 2010 on drug trafficking charges and sentenced to death, Mary Jane’s case has been a long and difficult journey.” It was not immediately clear when Veloso would be transported to the Philippines, but Marcos said he looked forward to welcoming her home.
In Jakarta, Indonesia, Evi Loliancy, the chief of Yogyakarta's female prison, told The Associated Press that there was still no request or order for Veloso's release. “She will still be under our supervision at the Yogyakarta Correctional Institution until there is a specific order regarding her transfer from the High Prosecutors’ Office," she said. The decision, Marcos said, “is a reflection of the depth our nation’s partnership with Indonesia — united in a shared commitment to justice and compassion.
" Details of the agreement were not immediately disclosed but if Veloso's transfer proceeds, it would remove the possibility of her facing an execution because the Phi.