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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Mary Jane Veloso can't be pardoned immediately after her return to PH -- DOJ

Mary Jane Veloso can't be pardoned immediately after her return to PH -- DOJ

Published Nov 21, 2024 06:38 am

The pardon of Mary Jane Veloso, who was convicted and sentenced to death in Indonesia, should not be done immediately once she returns to the Philippines, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Thursday, Nov. 21.

“It would not be good,” warned DOJ Undersecretary Raul T. Vasquez during an interview on PTV’s Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon.

Vasquez stressed: “Kailangan natin bigyan ng respeto ‘yung judgment na ginawa ng Indonesian court sa kanya na s’ya ay nahutalan ng may pagkakasala talaga (we have to respect the judgment of the Indonesian court that convicted her).

“Hindi natin pwedeng talikuran ‘yun, pagkadating dito automatically kailangan natin ipardon s’ya or executive clemency, kasi magiging pagtalikod naman sa usapan sa Indonesia kasi humanitarian gesture ito (We cannot turn our back by granting her pardon or executive clemency because this means we turn our backs to the agreement we made with Indonesia which did it as a humanitarian gesture),” he explained. 

In granting her pardon, the DOJ official said the Philippine government would look bad before the international community “kung tatalikuran natin ang mga agreement natin (if we turn our backs with our agreement).”

Vasquez reminded that the Philippines and Indonesia have no treaty for the transfer of sentenced persons that allow a convicted individual to serve the remaining sentence in his or her home country.

Because of this, Vasquez said the return of Veloso is based on “isang (an) agreement between the two sovereign states based on international comity and courtesy.”

“Wala ngang treaty pero pinagbigyan tayo ng Indonesia dahil sa lalim at lawak ng magandang relasyon ng Pilipinas at Indonesia (There is no treaty but Indonesia granted our appeal to have her return to the Philippines because of the good relations between the two countries),” he pointed out.

He reminded that Veloso was also sentenced to death by an Indonesian court.

If she has been allowed to return to the Philippines, Vasquez said “effectively the Indonesian government agreed to lower or commute her sentence from death penalty to life imprisonment” since the Philippines has no death penalty. 

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