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'Have heart': Jailed Filipina parents urge Marcos clemency for daughter in prison for 16 yrs
Mary Jane's parents and supporters, such as Migrante International, noted Philippine courts have already convicted her recruiters of human trafficking, proving her story of being made a drug mule
- PUBLISHED: Mon 16 Feb 2026, 5:05 PM
Parents of jailed Filipino migrant worker Mary Jane Veloso picketed the Philippine Department of Justice (DoJ) on Monday, asking President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to grant clemency for their daughter who has been in jail for 16 years in Indonesian then the Philippines.
Fourteen months after the Indonesian government repatriated the human trafficking victim from Wirogunan prison in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, to Manila, Mary Jane remains in jail awaiting release orders from Marcos.
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The mother, Celia Veloso, said Marcos has the power to pardon her daughter, who was a victim of drug trafficking. She also urged Marcos to visit Mary Jane to personally hear her appeal.
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Convicted by an Indonesian court of smuggling illegal narcotics in 2010, Mary Jane — a mother of two — had consistently argued she was used as an innocent drug mule by her recruiters. She was initially sentenced to death but was eventually repatriated to the Philippines by Indonesian President Probowo Subianto in late 2024.
The Philippines, however, does not have a death penalty policy, commuting Veloso’s sentence to life imprisonment.
Mary Jane's parents and supporters, such as Migrante International, pointed out that Philippine courts have already convicted her recruiters of human trafficking, proving her story of being made a drug mule.
Marcos could order her release through a clemency order, noted Mary Jane's lawyer, Edwin dela Cruz of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, who also argued that Veloso’s continued detention is illegal, as she has no pending case in any Philippine court.
