Got a tip? Send it to us at manila@coconuts.co.
Will her heartfelt plea save her?
“Former OFW Mary Jane Veloso, who is sentenced to be executed on Apr 28 in Indonesia’s Nusakambangan prison island, sent out on Saturday four handwritten letters, including an appeal addressed to Indonesian Preident. Joko Widodo that she gave to supporters who visited her in jail last April 16, 2015,” reports Lira Dalangin-Fernandez on InterAksyon.com.
READ: Mary Jane Veloso: How a 30-year-old Filipina ended up on death row in Indonesia
Veloso had written the letter using the Bahasa Indonesia language, below is the English translation by Prof. Bomen Guillermo of UP Diliman:
To Honorable President Joko Widodo:
I sincerely appeal to you, Honorable Sir, to grant me a pardon from the death penalty. I believe and am certain that you have a compassionate heart and are very wise to make a humane decision.
As a mother, I have two children who are still small and need the love of a mother very much whom they love in return.
Honorable Sir, I believe that as the father of your child, you can feel what it would be like if your child were in the position of my own children, it is surely very painful because it would take away the right of my children to be with their mother, if my plea for pardon is not granted.
Honorable Sir, I believe that as the Father of the Indonesian Nation you should protect your children, above all those who are genuinely innocent.
I sincerely pray to be saved from the death penalty and to be given the opportunity to bring up my children.
May God always bless Honorable President Joko Widodo and his whole family.
Veloso was arrested in Indonesia in 2010, when an inspection at the airport revealed that there was 2.6 kilograms of heroin sewn into the lining of the bag she used to carry her things. The said bag, as Veloso maintains, didn’t belong to her. She claimed it was lent to her by a fellow Filipino woman named Maria Kristina Sergio (who Veloso referred to as “Christine” in her testimonies). Sergio was Veloso’s neighbor in the village of Caudillo near Cabanatuan City.
READ: In her own words: Drug convict Mary Jane Veloso tells her story
Veloso said Sergio was well-known in their village for having a buy-and-sell business. Sergio was also known to travel to Malaysia frequently. Sergio had offered to help Veloso find a job in Malaysia.
Reader Interactions