Veloso lawyer: April 28 execution date ‘not yet final’
A LAWYER representing Mary Jane Veloso said that the April 28 execution date which was told by Veloso’s kin to the media was not yet final.
READ: Veloso execution set on April 28, say ma, lawyers
Speaking to radio dzMM on Sunday, National Union of People’s Lawyers Secretary General Atty. Edre Olalia said that they are exerting all legal remedies to save Veloso from being executed through firing squad due to a drug smuggling charge.
“Ang natanggap ni Mary Jane ay isang dokumento na wala pa namang petsa. Pero effectively, dahil siya ay binigyan na ng dokumento, ay tumakbo na ‘yung tinatawag na 72 hours. Pero hindi ibig sabihin nun na eksaktong sa a-28, ibig sabihin ‘yun ang pinakamaagang ipatupad ang sentensiya. So pwede siyang maging 28, 29, o even later (What Mary Jane received was a document which has no date written on it. However, the 72 hours for her execution has already started. But it does not mean that the execution will take place on the 28th, it just means that it is the earliest date when the death sentence could be carried out),” Olalia said.
The lawyer said that the 72 hours’ notice “can be still stretched further” until Indonesia can resolve the second appeal filed by the Philippine government on Veloso’s case.
In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Veloso, her lawyers, and a representative of the Philippine embassy in Indonesia on Saturday refused to sign the notice of execution given to them.
READ: DFA: Veloso, lawyers refused to sign notice of execution
Olalia also asked the Aquino administration to be more “aggressive” in both legal and diplomatic fronts to spare Veloso’s life.
“Lahat ng hakbang legal ay uubusin namin dito hanggang sa huling hibla ng hininga ni Mary Jane. Pero sana naman tumbasan naman yan ng agresibong hakbang ng ating pamahalaan. Saka na po tayo magtuos at kelangan i-focus muna natin lahat ng hakbang at ‘yung sama-samang pagkilos ay dapat paigtingin (We will exhaust all legal means until Mary Jane’s last breath. We just wish that our actions are being complemented with a vigorous action from the government. We should focus all our efforts and that we should be united to save Mary Jane),” he said.
Before he left for Malaysia to attend the 26th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit, Aquino said that he will try to have a dialogue with Indonesian President Joko Widodo to appeal for Veloso’s pardon. AC
READ: Aquino heads to Malaysia for 26th Asean Summit
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