Jakarta Globe, Joe Torres, Apr 12, 2015
Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso, center, of the Philippines. (Reuters Photo/Ignatius Eswe) |
Manila. The
National Democratic Front of the Philippines, an alliance of communist-led
underground organizations in the country, has called on its Indonesian allies
to lobby on behalf of a Filipina woman who is facing execution in Yogyakarta.
“We asked
our allies [in Indonesia] to mobilize mass organizations to lobby on behalf of
Mary Jane [Veloso],” said Connie Ledesma, a member of the NDFP panel
negotiating peace with the Philippine government.
Veloso is
facing execution in Indonesia after she was convicted of smuggling 2.6
kilograms of heroin in 2010. Her family maintain that she is innocent, saying
she was a victim of a drug syndicate.
“[We] will
try all that we can to mobilize people, especially in the countryside, to help
the family of Mary Jane,” sad Luis Jalandoni, the NDFP chairman.
However, he
admitted that the NDF “has limited powers” to pressure the Philippine
government to act on Veloso’s case.
“[The
government] is not even talking to us about peace,” he said, adding that the
case of Veloso should have been included as part of the social and economic
reforms agenda of the peace negotiations.
Jalandoni
and Ledesma, who live in exile in the Netherlands, are in Manila this month for
consultations on the prospects of the resumption of peace negotiations between
the Philippine government and the NDFP.
The
country’s Catholic bishops, meanwhile, urged Filipinos “to storm the heavens
with prayers” to save Veloso.
“At this
time, it is important for all of us to be one in prayer to save Jane’s life,”
said Bishop Ruperto Santos on Balanga, chairman of the Episcopal Commission on
Migrants and Itinerant People of the bishops’ conference.
“We storm
heavens with prayers that she be saved from this tragic fate,” Santos said,
adding that people should also pray for government officials to work hard to
get a reprieve for Veloso.
Santos said
Church leaders in the country join the appeal to Indonesian authorities to
spare Veloso the death penalty “because every life is precious as it comes from
God.”
The
Protestant National Council of Churches in the Philippines has also called on
the public to unite in praying and calling on the Indonesian government to heed
the appeal by the United Nations for clemency for Veloso.
The
Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday said the government had
been doing its best to save Veloso. Spokesman Charles Jose said the Philippine
government was considering “all options,” including another appeal before
Indonesia’s Supreme Court.
“Veloso’s
is yet another case of the Philippine government doing a little too late,” Gary
Martinez of the migrant group Migrante told UCANews.com.
Veloso was
arrested in 2010 and was not assigned a lawyer until the last minute, Martinez
noted. “Such had been the Philippine government’s tact, it had so far failed to
show transparency or accountability for failing to save the lives of Filipinos
on death row,” he said.
Should
Veloso’s execution push through, she would be the eighth Filipino executed
since 2010 when President Benigno Aquino came to power.
Martinez
said it was the most number of executions of Filipinos on death row under one
administration since the Philippine labor export policy was implemented in the
1970s.
This story
was first published by UCANews and was edited for style by the Jakarta Globe.
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