Camille Naredo

Filipina inmate Mary Jane Veloso on board a Cebu Pacific flight on her way back to the Philippines on December 18, 2024. Photo courtesy of Wendy Palomo

Filipina inmate Mary Jane Veloso on board a Cebu Pacific flight on her way back to the Philippines on December 18, 2024

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Mary Jane Veloso

Carmelle Lacuata

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1734456088976121824_Mary Jane Veloso.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Filipina inmate Mary Jane Veloso on board a Cebu Pacific flight on her way back to the Philippines on December 18, 2024. Photo courtesy of Wendy Palomo"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Filipina inmate Mary Jane Veloso on board a Cebu Pacific flight on her way back to the Philippines on December 18, 2024. <em>Photo courtesy of Wendy Palomo</em></span></span></span>MANILA — Filipina death row convict Mary Jane Veloso is on her way home to the Philippines.</div><p>Veloso left Jakarta, Indonesia at 1:53 a.m. on Wednesday, Manila time, via a Cebu Pacific flight from the Soekarno-Hatta international airport in the Indonesian capital, following an official handover to Philippine officials.</p><p>She is expected to arrive in Manila at around 5:40 a.m. on Wednesday, December 18.</p><p>Officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Bureau of Corrections earlier flew to Jakarta to finalize Manila&#x27;s prisoner transfer agreement with Jakarta.</p><p>&quot;I have to go home because I have a family there, I have my children waiting for me,&quot; she told a press conference, adding that she wanted to spend Christmas with her family.</p><p>&quot;This is a new life for me and I will have a new beginning in the Philippines.&quot;</p><p>The agreement between Jakarta and Manila states that she will be transferred as a prisoner but her sentence will fall under Philippine law upon her return, meaning President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. could decide to grant her a reprieve.</p><p>&quot;I am very happy today, but to be honest I am a little sad, because Indonesia has been my second family,&quot; she said before singing the Indonesian national anthem.</p><p>&quot;I hope you will all pray for me. I have to be strong.&quot;</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2024/12/17/mary-jane-veloso-handed-over-to-philippine-officials-2307">READ: Mary Jane Veloso handed over to Philippine officials</a></div><p>Veloso&#x27;s handover to Philippine officials was attended by Indonesian immigration and corrections staff and representatives from the Philippine embassy in Jakarta and corrections officials from Manila.</p><p>Before addressing the media, she broke down in tears as she called her children and parents.</p><p>Veloso&#x27;s travel document was stamped with a deportation mark and she will be banned from re-entering the country, according to Indonesian officials.</p><p>Veloso was arrested and sentenced to death in 2010 after 2.6 kilograms of heroin was found in her luggage, but the Filipina asserted that the bag was only handed to her by her recruiters.</p><p>She narrowly escaped death in 2015 after her recruiters were arrested shortly before her scheduled execution.</p><p>Reports of Veloso&#x27;s transfer to a Philippine prison started earlier this year, shortly after new Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto rose to power.</p><p>Marcos Jr. and other officials welcomed the transfer as Veloso would be spared from execution because the Philippines does not have a death penalty law in place.</p><p>Veloso had called her transfer a &quot;miracle&quot; as she was supposed to be executed in 2015, but was spared as the recruiters who allegedly stashed the illegal drugs in her luggage were arrested moments before she was killed via a firing squad. -- <strong>with Agence France-Presse</strong></p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2024/12/17/marcos-celebrates-mary-jane-veloso-s-homecoming-1746https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2024/12/17/marcos-celebrates-mary-jane-veloso-s-homecoming-1746">READ: Marcos celebrates Mary Jane Veloso&#x27;s homecoming</a></div><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2024/12/16/nupl-asks-for-immediate-access-to-mary-jane-veloso-upon-her-return-to-ph-1942">READ: NUPL asks for immediate access to Mary Jane Veloso upon her return to PH</a></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><script data-wid="auto" type="text/javascript" src="https://content.viralize.tv/display/?zid=AAEyze-tm4MR6kEa&amp;cid=ABR60BeVgUozoiU8&amp;activation=click&amp;vip_mode=playing&amp;vip_position=bottom-right"></script>

<p>Filipina death row convict Mary Jane Veloso is on her way home to the Philippines.</p>

Filipina death row convict Mary Jane Veloso is on her way home to the Philippines.

Mary Jane Veloso departs Indonesia, set for PH homecoming

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Mary Jane Veloso departs Indonesia, set for PH homecoming

Rose Carmelle Lacuata,

ABS-CBN News

Published Dec 18, 2024 01:54 AM PHT

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Updated Dec 18, 2024 02:08 AM PHT

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