Ma excited to cook Mary Jane Veloso’s ‘homecoming’ meal

Mary Jane Veloso’s mother Celia, at home in Gen. Natividad, Nueva Ecija, on Thursday scans her photos as the family anticipates her return to the Philippines. —ARMAND GALANG

GEN. NATIVIDAD, NUEVA ECIJA — No exact date has been set for drug convict Mary Jane Veloso’s transfer to the Philippines but her mother is already thinking of dishes to prepare for her first meal.

Veloso, the overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who has been on death row in Indonesia for over a decade, will be sent home following years of negotiation between the two countries. She will serve the rest of her sentence in the country. Philippine authorities hope the homecoming will happen by Christmas.

“Adobong baboy (pork) and inihaw na isda (grilled fish),” Veloso’s mother, Celia, said when asked what dishes she had in mind. She hoped to serve these on their table at home, although the government has yet to reveal the procedure for Veloso’s transfer.

Celia said these dishes were favorites of Mary Jane, who told her family that she missed adobo, a Filipino dish usually made with chicken or pork and cooked with vinegar, garlic, and soy sauce.

Death penalty

Veloso was 25 years old when she was arrested in 2010 at Adisucipto International Airport in Yogyakarta for trying to bring 2.6 kilograms of heroin into Indonesia. She said she was unaware of the drugs concealed in her suitcase. Her children were only 2 and 7 years old when she faced trial.

Her sons, now 22 and 17 years old, are excited at the prospect of living with their mother, now 39, again soon.

READ: Mary Jane Veloso is coming home to the Philippines – Marcos

“Ngayon nga ay hindi na magagawa ni Mary Jane na sila ay bihisan dahil malalaki na (But Mary Jane can no longer dress them up because they have grown),” Celia said.

The Sleman District Court in Yogyakarta sentenced Veloso to death in 2010, a penalty upheld by Indonesia’s Supreme Court in May 2011. Repeated appeals by then President Benigno Aquino III were turned down in December 2014 by Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

Mother’s appeal

On April 29, 2015, Veloso was scheduled to be executed by firing squad. But an indefinite stay of execution was granted at the last minute after Philippine authorities informed their Indonesian counterparts that her recruiters had surrendered and were in the custody of law enforcers.

Celia reiterated her appeal to President Marcos to ensure her safety should she be sent to the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City, noting that one of her recruiters, Maria Cristina Sergio, is in the same facility.

She hopes that Mary Jane will be placed in a facility where none of her recruiters are jailed.

INQToday: Mary Jane Veloso clemency by Marcos? Indonesia open to that – DFA 

Sergio and Julius Lacanilao were found guilty of large-scale illegal recruitment by the regional trial court in Baloc, Sto. Domingo, Nueva Ecija, in January 2020. They were found responsible for unlawfully sending workers overseas, including Veloso.

In an earlier interview, Celia said her daughter should be freed and sent back home to them for being innocent instead of being jailed in the Philippines. Her case has received much attention in the country where many are forced into circumstances that exploit their poverty.

Celia said no one from the government has reached out to them yet regarding Mary Jane’s case and only Migrante International, a global alliance of OFWs and their families, has been giving them updates.

In a statement on Wednesday, Marcos confirmed that the Philippine and Indonesian governments agreed to bring Veloso back to Manila after 10 years of diplomacy and consultation regarding her case. He also extended his gratitude to Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and their government for their goodwill.