House Minority Leader Rep. Marcelino Libanan recently proposed a new prisoner swap program, which would allow overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) convicted abroad to serve their sentences in the Philippines.
In his proposal, Libanan emphasized the need for a system that would bring Filipinos convicted of crimes overseas closer to their families while continuing to serve their sentences at home.
Libanan pointed to the case of Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipino domestic worker who had spent nearly 15 years on death row in Indonesia for drug trafficking. Veloso, from Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, was repatriated in December 2024 after her conviction in Jakarta in 2010. She has consistently maintained her innocence, claiming that a recruiter tricked her into carrying a suitcase containing drugs. Now 39 years old, Veloso is currently incarcerated at the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong.
Libanan proposed that the Philippine government establish an international prisoner transfer program, allowing Filipinos imprisoned abroad to serve the remainder of their sentences in the Philippines. He called on the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) to collaborate on the program’s implementation. The model could be based on a similar initiative in the United States, where the Department of Justice’s International Prisoner Transfer Unit manages such programs, with the Department of State acting as the primary negotiator for transfer agreements.
“There’s no question that bringing Filipino offenders closer to their loved ones will be more conducive to their rehabilitation,” Libanan said. “We need a program that will facilitate the transfer of Filipinos convicted abroad, so they can serve the remainder of their sentences here at home.”
Veloso’s case drew international attention when she was arrested in Yogyakarta in 2010 after 2.6 kilos of heroin were found in her suitcase. After years of legal battles, she received a reprieve from execution in 2015, following intervention from then-President Benigno Aquino III.
According to the Department of Migrant Workers, as of the latest report, 1,254 Filipinos are incarcerated in various countries across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, convicted of different crimes.
