How Pinay on Death Row in Indonesia was Fooled into Bringing Luggage Full of Heroin
Mary Jane Veloso, 3 March 2015. REUTERS FILE PHOTO
CABANATUAN CITY, Nueva Ecija -The family of the 30-year-old Filipina who faces death penalty for allegedly smuggling over two kilos of illegal drugs in Indonesia thanked the government for its continued effort to save her life but appealed for more efforts.
“We are thankful that the government is continuously doing ways to save our sister from death penalty,” said Maritess Veloso-Laurente, sister of Mary Jane Veloso, who was found guilty by the Indonesian court of allegedly smuggling 2.611 kilos of heroin in its airport on April 26, 2010.
“We are hoping that our sister would not suffer the fate of Flor Contemplacion because she is indeed innocent. She is a victim here,” Laurente said.
“While our sister is alive, we are not losing hope for a miracle,” Laurente said.
Her sister also has strong faith owing to her innocence, she said.
“Mary Jane also said that while she is alive, she is not losing hope. She is innocent that’s why we believe that God will perform a miracle to save her,” Laurente said.
Veloso, who did not finish first year high school, was married to a man from Esguerra District, Talavera, Nueva Ecija but that marriage turned to be void from the very beginning because she was a minor, only 16 years old, at the time it was solemnized. The guy is now living with another woman.
Veloso, who has two sons – now aged 12 and 7, was reportedly recruited by a certain Tintin, who is known for frequenting Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
Tintin offered Veloso a housekeeping job for P25,000 a month in Malaysia, according to Laurente.
Tintin is Veloso’s neighbor in her former residence in Esguerra District, Talavera town.
The two left for Malaysia on April 22, 2010 with Veloso bringing only two pants and two shirts inside her son’s small backpack on the advice of Tintin, Laurente said.
Upon landing in Malaysia, Tintin allegedly told Veloso that her supposed employer has already got a helper thus, they had to check in a hotel instead.
For the next three days when they stayed at Lagoon Hotel somewhere in Malaysia, Tintin bought clothes and a mobile phone for Veloso until the former advised the latter that she found a new employer for her in Indonesia on April 26.
When Veloso told Tintin her bag is not enough for her new things, Tintin reportedly advised her that a certain Prince will deliver a traveling bag. A car-riding Prince, indeed, came to deliver the traveling bag.
Veloso, Laurente said, noticed that the bag appeared to be unusually heavy.
Laurente said her sister prudently checked the bag and found nothing.
“The bag is new and still has a tag,” she said.
She entered the Indonesian airport aboard Air Asia flight 594 from Kuala Lumpur, where the X-ray machine detected and authorities subsequently found the drugs in her traveling bag.
Last February, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) brought them to Indonesia to visit Veloso.
It reunited her with her two sons and parents, Laurente said.