PNoy Sends 3rd Request for Mary Jane’s Clemency
MANILA – The Philippine government continues its efforts to save the life of Mary Jane Veloso who is facing death by firing squad for drug trafficking in Indonesia.
“We are also doing two approaches: the legal, which is the filing of the appeal for judicial review and the diplomatic, and the President has written for the third time asking for clemency,” Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, Assistant Secretary Charles Jose said.
Jose said the DFA has yet to file its second appeal. He added that the judicial review is something unique to the Indonesian legal system.
“Hindi lahat ng countries may ganitong feature,” he said.
According to Jose, President Benigno Aquino III’s third letter to his counterpart in Indonesian, President Joko Widodo, was delivered last week.
Aquino first wrote to former Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono about Veloso’s case. His second and third letters were already addressed to Widodo.
“Yung initiatives natin like the request for judicial review, yung request for clemency… these are all in accordance with what is allowed under the Indonesian judicial and legal processes and we are not interfering with their judicial system,” Jose explained.
Jose said they are following the pronouncements of the Indonesian government that it will not be carrying out any execution during the Asian-African Summit in Bandung.
“The meeting will end on April 24. They also said that they will not carry out any executions while there are still outstanding legal processes,” Jose said.
Vice President Jejomar Binay will be attending the international summit and is hoping to personally appeal the Pinay’s case to President Widodo.
“We are still finalizing the itinerary of the Vice President. We are looking at his schedules and we are trying to see what we can do given the time that he has,” Jose said.
Veloso was caught in Yogjakarta airport in 2010, carrying nearly 3 kilos of heroin. ANC