Lacson hopes Mary Jane Veloso gets presidential pardon

MANILA, Philippines — Former Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson expressed his hopes that drug convict Mary Jane Veloso will be granted “a presidential pardon or at least her early release from confinement based on good conduct time allowance.”

Velasco, who is expected to return to the Philippines after 14 years in jail in Indonesia, was arrested in 2010 at Adisucipto International Airport in Yogyakarta after she was found in possession of more than 2.6 kilograms of heroin.

However, she maintained she was unaware of the contents of her luggage as it was only given to her by her recruiters, identified as Julius Lacanilao and Maria Cristina Sergio.

READ: Veloso PH-bound; freedom still up to Marcos, Jakarta

Veloso was eventually given a death sentence. But on Thursday, Nov. 21, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.. following his confirmation that Veloso would be sent back to the Philippines, it was revealed that her death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment during the term of Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

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“We are not privy to the terms of the agreement, but we can only hope it includes the discretion to grant Mary Jane a presidential pardon or at least her early release from confinement based on good conduct time allowance as provided under Republic Act No. 10592,” Lacson said in a statement.

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READ: Timeline: The case of Mary Jane Veloso

He also highlighted the efforts of two Philippine presidents who helped spare Veloso from execution.

“The saga of Mary Jane Veloso may not have ended yet, but worth mentioning are the efforts of two Philippine presidents to save her from being executed in a foreign land. [Former president] Noynoy Aquino succeeded in temporarily [stopping] her execution. President Bongbong Marcos not only convinced Indonesia to have her death sentence commuted to life imprisonment but he is bringing her back home to serve her sentence here,” Lacson said.