Jokowi Gets on Same Page as Digong: Duterte Said ‘Go Ahead with the PROCESS’ – Report
Indonesian President Joko Widodo appears to have aligned his statement with that of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, with regard to how to treat the case of Filipino deathrow inmate Mary Jane Veloso, Channel News Asia reported on Wednesday.
The Singaporean broadcaster – owned by the Lion City’s state-run MediaCorp – quoted Widodo as saying on Tuesday: “President Duterte said please, go ahead with the process in line with the law in Indonesia.” CNA said Widodo was “speaking with reporters after opening a new terminal at Tanjung Priok port, north Jakarta on Tuesday.”
The line appears to take a step back from Widodo’s statement on Monday, when he was quoted by Indonesian media as attributing to Duterte the message, “‘Please, go ahead if you want to execute.”
The Philippine government was quick to deny that was Duterte’s message to Widodo in a visit to Indonesia last week. Reports of Widodo’s supposed interpretation of Duterte’s message has sparked controversy in the Philippines, with critics saying it betrayed the Philippine president’s apathy towards the fate of Veloso. Advocates of Mary Jane – convicted in Jakarta of drug trafficking – said she was an unwitting pawn and victim of illegal recruiters and drug syndicates. She was sentenced to die in 2010, and has been languishing on death row since.
Philippine officials have since stressed that Duterte never said “go ahead and execute”, and merely assured his Indonesian counterpart that Manila will respect the Indonesian legal process. Widodo’s statement, as reported by CNA, appears to reconcile the two presidents’ recollection of their discussion, and likely defuses a potential diplomatic wrinkle between the two countries.
(Source: InterAksyon.com)