LABUAN BAJO, INDONESIA—Patuloy na ipaglalaban ni Pangulong Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. ang kaso ni Mary Jane Veloso, ang overseas Filipino worker na nahatulan ng parusang kamatayan dahil sa kaso ng illegal na droga.
Ayon sa Pangulo, patuloy niyang hihilingan kay Indonesian President Joko Widodo na bigyan ng commutation o pardon extradition si Veloso.
“Well, ganoon pa rin. We haven’t really stopped. Ganito this is the impasse, okay. The impasse is that we continue to ask for a commutation or even a pardon or just extradition back to the Philippines. And that is constantly there,” pahayag ng Pangulo.
Taong 2010 nang hatulan ng kamatayan si Veloso dahil sa drug trafficking.
Nakumpiska kaay Veloso ang 2.6 kilo ng heroin sa Yogyakarta.
“But, the Indonesians answer us and – that this is the law. Ito ‘yung batas dito sa Indonesia kaya’t kailangan natin ipagpatupad ‘yan. And they have already given us postponement of the ano of the…But that doesn’t mean it’s done. I always, I always at least bring it up na baka sakali, baka sakali magbago,” pahayag ng Pangulo.
“Sa ngayon, ganoon ang mga position natin. We said, yes, we understand that she is convicted. We understand that the law in Indonesia is that way. But nonetheless, baka makahanap tayo ng paraan. Iuwi na lang namin ‘yan. Kami na magpaparusa sa kanya, whatever. Basta’t anyway to ask for clemency, to ask for grace when it comes to this,” dagdag ng Pangulo.
Nasa Indonesia ang Pangulo para dumalo sa 42nd Association of Southeast Asian Summit.