Press Secretary Trixie Angeles said that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. will not pay a visit to Mary Jane Veloso in his state visit to Indonesia from Sept 4-6, 2022.
“For matters that are of this sensitive nature, the President will have to – how do you call this? We cannot say more, we cannot say more than that,” Angeles said in a press briefing.
“We cannot even guess as to why, but because it is of such a sensitive nature, then we proceed with deliberation,” she added.
Angeles however said that there is a possibility that Marcos will raise the issue during his meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
Velos was arrested in 2010 after she was caught carrying 2.6kg of heroin sewn into the lining of her luggage.
She was supposed to be executed by a firing squad but the appeal of the late President Noynoy Aquino in 2015 saved her.
Days before Marcos’ visit, parents of Veloso went to the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) to hand a letter of appeal to Pres. Marcos.
“Mas lubos po kaming magpapasalamat kung sa lalong madaling panahon ay maiuuwi sa Pilipinas ang aming anak na si Mary Jane dahil wala po siyang kasalanan,” the letter read.
“Ang pangingibang bayan para lamang mabigyan ng desenteng buhay ang kaniyang mga anak ang tangi niyang pakay,” Cesar and Celia Veloso said.
“By agreement, it will be the Department of Foreign Affairs that will be taking the lead primarily for two reasons: One, it has the institutional memory and knowledge from the start of the case until today,” DMW chief Susan Ople said.
“Second, I’m pretty sure Secretary Trixie will agree with me on the importance of speaking with one voice on a case that has such very sensitive dimensions as the case of Mary Jane Veloso,” she said.
