Mary Jane appeals to BBM for clemency

After 14 years on death row in Indonesia and being nearly executed by firing squad for drug trafficking, Mary Jane Veloso came home to the Philippines yesterday and was welcomed by the embrace of her family.

- By DAPHNE GALVEZ and EMMANUEL TUPAS

Veloso, 39, arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Cebu Pacific flight 5J 760 at 6:24 a.m., accompanied by ranking government officials, and with personnel from the Bureau of Immigration and National Bureau of Investigation securing her.

Veloso's children and other relatives who traveled from Nueva Ecija were unable to get close to her when she arrived, as she was immediately escorted to a Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) vehicle and taken to the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City, where she was briefly reunited with her family.

At the CIW, she appealed to President Marcos to grant her clemency.

As Veloso, her parents, sons and siblings shared tight embraces, tears of joy streamed down their faces, which were lit up with big smiles.

Supporters also gathered at the CIW, pleading for clemency and freedom for Veloso. They carried flowers and Christmas lanterns and presents labeled "clemency." "I am so happy that I have come home to our country," Veloso said in Filipino from behind the gate of the CIW. "I wish the President would give me clemency." In an interview, Veloso's eldest son, Mark Danielle Candelaria, said they are happy that she is in the Philippines and also asked the President for clemency so that they can celebrate Christmas and New Year as "whole." Veloso was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to death after she was caught in an airport carrying 2.6 kilograms of heroin in her luggage.

In 2015, she narrowly escaped death by firing squad when Indonesian President Joko Widodo granted a last-minute reprieve, allowing Philippine authorities to prosecute the alleged traffickers who duped her into smuggling drugs.

She has always maintained her innocence, saying she was duped into carrying the suitcase that had a secret stash of heroin.