Filipina drug convict Mary Jane Veloso is finally home

Metro Manila, Philippines - Mary Jane Veloso, the overseas Filipino worker (OFW) convicted of drug trafficking in Indonesia, is now back in the Philippines after 14 years of jail time in a foreign land.

The aircraft that brought Veloso home landed on the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 on Wednesday, Dec. 18, at 5:51 a.m., the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) said.

Veloso, accompanied by Philippine government officials, left Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta at 12:05 a.m.

Citing the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, BuCor Director General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. said Veloso was not handcuffed during the flight.

“Wala naman syang balak tumakas or saktan ang sarili nya dahil gusto na nga nyang maka uwi ng Pilipinas so bakit pa natin kakailanganin ang posas, imbis na posas dapat Rosas ang ibigay natin sa kanya,” Catapang said in a statement.

[Translation: She has no intention of escaping or hurting herself as she wants to go home to the Philippines. So why do we need to handcuff her? She should be given roses, not handcuffs.]

Airport authorities have banned journalists covering Veloso’s arrival from access to the arrivals area of NAIA 3. Veloso was whisked away to the Correctional Institution for Women where she will be temporarily detained and undergo a five-day quarantine as part of protocols.

Groups have been calling for the clemency of Veloso as she maintains her innocence.

In 2010, Veloso was arrested in Indonesia after local authorities found illegal drugs in her suitcase, which was handed to her by her recruiter.