Senator EXHORTS government: Save Mary Jane Veloso: Please do not give up!
Man lives on hope, so does Mary Jane Veloso and her family considering that the lamp of hope is still burning; it is just a cumulative miracle of sorts that she is still surviving several schedules of her execution by the firing squad since she was caught smuggling 2.6 Kg of Heroin into Indonesia.
Now Indonesia is a Muslim country that is very strict in dealing with crime and such serious offences; it has the death penalty for serious offenders; while on the subject of the capital punishment, the country seems to very undecided and tentative since the election of a new President is often the case deciding factor since the policy keeps getting reversed with each new incumbent taking charge as the President of the Indonesian Republic.
This is also one of the factors that contributed to saving her from the firing squad
This was in April 2010 and here sentence read out in the court judgment said that she was to be subjected to execution by a firing squad; it was the change in the President that saved her temporarily from death and oblivion.
A large number of dignitaries have requested the Indonesian President to pardon her since she was only a mule; even the current President of the Philippines has personally requested Widodo to grant her pardon, if possible.
From the Filipino chorus, the voice of Senator Risa Hontiveros has again urged the President of the Philippines not to give up on his efforts to rescue the hapless girl whose poverty was exploited the drug lords to take advantage of her and try to get Heroin across into Indonesia.
The appeal to let her go is all the more justified since the person responsible for her fate has himself been arrested and is currently being tried for thy
e same offense; and, since the government of Indonesia is also exploiting her by making her attest against the culprit in the court of law, it is therefore justified that she be let off and allowed to go home.
Thus, the Indonesians would also have scored some brownie points for being just and diplomatic by seeing through the whole episode and showing mercy to the hapless girl who must be dying a thousand deaths daily since 2010.
Besides, it is also inhuman to subject the poor girl to such torture, prolonging her misery by letting her live with the constant knowledge that there was no reprieve for her and she was doomed to die.
The Senator stated that she was appealing to the President of the Philippines and to President Joko Widodo to understand that even Mary Jane had a right to life and all efforts must be made to see that this right is not taken from her.
Hence, it was her plea to the administration and to all concerned, to not give up in their efforts to save Mary Jane Veloso. It is of the utmost necessity to ensure that the temporary reprieve granted to Veloso for testifying against her handlers is made permanent since it seems that , by agreeing to testify, she is almost like a culprit turned approver and granted a pardon as is the practice in the courts of law.
Moreover, the Senator was perturbed because, after having spoken to Duterte, the Indonesian President spoke to the media and declared that Duterte had given him the green signal to execute Veloso.
She reminded the people that, if Veloso is executed, it could have disastrous results for all women; she also reminded the government that it was their duty to protect the subjects particularly the hopeless ones.
Risa stated that there seems to be some misunderstanding between the interaction that Duterte had with Widodo; perhaps, she said, Widodo misunderstood the message given by Duterte and thought that Duterte wanted Veloso hanged and approved it.
However, Malacanang has issued clarifications on this score and stated that there was no such statement by Duterte that gave approval for Mary Jane Veloso to be executed.
Hence, all right thinking Filipinos, while respecting the sovereignty of Indonesia, will continue to appeal for a reprieve for Mary Jane Veloso and President Duterte has also added his voice to the multitude of people who have been appealing for a reprieve for the unfortunate girl.
Umrao singh umraoz.wordpress.com
Tuesday, 13 September 2016
Written for: Lars-Magnus Carlsson www.thephilippinepride.com
