The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has granted an absolute pardon to Mary Jane Veloso, ending the nearly 16-year legal ordeal of the Filipina who was once just hours away from execution in Indonesia.
Marcos confirmed Friday that he had signed the pardon the previous day, putting into effect the government’s move to grant Veloso executive clemency on humanitarian grounds.
“Pinirmahan ko na ‘yung pardon niya kahapon (I signed her pardon yesterday),” Marcos said during his visit to Eastern Visayas.
The President’s announcement came just two days after Malacañang disclosed that he was seriously considering granting Veloso an absolute pardon following a review of her plea for executive clemency.
Veloso, now back under Philippine jurisdiction, had spent nearly 15 years behind bars in Indonesia after being arrested in Yogyakarta in 2010 when authorities found 2.6 kilograms of heroin in her luggage.
She was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to death that same year.
Veloso, however, consistently maintained that she was innocent and had been deceived by alleged recruiters who asked her to carry a suitcase without telling her it contained illegal drugs.
Her execution was halted at the last minute in April 2015 after the Philippine government appealed to Indonesia to spare her life so she could testify in proceedings against her alleged recruiters.
Her case remained the subject of years of diplomatic efforts between Manila and Jakarta. In 2022, Marcos raised the matter with then-Indonesian President Joko Widodo, and negotiations eventually paved the way for Veloso’s transfer to the Philippines in December 2024.
Veloso arrived in Manila on Dec. 18, 2024 and was taken to the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City, where she continued serving her sentence under Philippine jurisdiction.
At the time, Marcos said the clemency request would have to undergo legal review before any decision could be made.
The issue resurfaced this year as Veloso and her family renewed their appeal for executive clemency. In July, Malacañang said the appeal would be transmitted to Marcos for consideration.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro confirmed on Wednesday that the President was considering an absolute pardon on humanitarian grounds, although no timetable was initially given.
Two days later, Marcos announced that the decision had been made.
The absolute pardon now marks a dramatic new chapter in a case that has drawn sustained attention in the Philippines because of Veloso’s claim that she was a trafficking victim and because of the long-running legal proceedings involving her alleged recruiters.