Palace hails SC ruling to let Veloso testify

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Saturday hailed the move of the Supreme Court upholding its decision to allow Mary Jane Veloso to testify against her recruiters who hired her for a job that landed her on death row in Indonesia.

“We’re happy about that because at least we can see that Ms Veloso had been a victim, if her testimony would be accepted,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a briefing.

The high court earlier denied the bid of Maria Cristina Sergio and Julius Lacanilao to reverse its earlier ruling allowing Veloso to testify in the human trafficking and illegal recruitment case against them.

Lacanilao and Sergio were accused of using Veloso to smuggle heroin into Indonesia. Veloso was arrested in Yogyakarta in 2010 with more than 2 kilograms of heroin. She was sentenced to death in 2015.

—Leila B. Salaverria