President Rodrigo Duterte said on Tuesday, September 13, that he did not discuss Filipina death row inmate Mary Jane Veloso’s fate with Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
“We never mentioned Veloso. Sinabi ko lang, we will respect the judgments of your courts. Period,” Duterte said in front of the members of the 250th Philippine Airlift Wing at the Villamor Air Base.
“It would have been a bad taste in the mouth to be talking about – having a strong posture against drugs, and here you are begging for something,” he added.
Duterte said that he has nothing to apologize for because “the law is the law.”
This statement came a day after it was reported that Widodo said Duterte gave the go-ahead for Veloso’s execution, but Duterte said that he only told the Indonesian president to implement his country’s laws.
“I said, Mr President, so as not for him to apologize or anything, ‘Mr. President, I have my laws, you have yours. It’s good that you have the death penalty here. At least you can bring it down to the barest minimum.’ And I said, go ahead and implement the law,” Duterte said.
Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella also clarified on Monday that Duterte only told Widodo to “follow your own laws” and that he will not interfere.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay told reporters on September 10 that Duterte did not bring up Veloso’s case because it’s not an issue.
“Hindi natin na-bring up iyan dahil hindi naman issue ngayon yan eh. Let’s finish the process,” he said.
“Ang pagkakaintindi ko, ang mangyayari diyan ay wala namang scheduled, dinefer muna ang execution because (she) will be testifying,” Yasay added, as quoted by ABS-CBN.
[ads1]
Yasay added that if the investigation into Veloso’s case indeed finds her as a victim, that would be the time when the Philippine government can ask Indonesia for clemency for her.
He also said that Veloso’s case “is not urgent,” given the “indefinite” postponement of her execution.
“There’s no schedule. It has been postponed indefinitely for Mary Jane. She has been off the execution schedule, and we will be informed if that happens and I don’t think it will happen because the agreement is she will be allowed first to testify. They’re just getting interrogatories or depositions, and so on,” Yasay said.
You can also watch Duterte answering CNN’s Ina Andolong who asked about Veloso’s status at mark 21:46 upon his arrival from Indonesia:
Andolong: Good morning, Sir and welcome back. Sir, ano po ang status ngayon ni Mary Jane Veloso? Was her status discussed in your meetings…
Duterte: This was one of the topics of our conversation during the… Everybody was excluded and they were allowed to cover about security arrangements, including the Filipinos who are in jail facing charges in Indonesia. There are matters that I cannot tell you now. I’m sorry I am not at liberty but maybe I can talk to the family first before anything else. It would be improper really for me talking about it before I get hold of the family and tell them the developments of the case.
Before leaving for Laos, Duterte said that he prayed he can do something for Veloso.
Veloso is on death row in Indonesia and was scheduled for execution in April 2015 before former President Benigno Aquino III appealed for her reprieve. Aquino said that Veloso can give a testimony against her alleged recruiters who duped her into bringing illegal drugs to Indonesia. Veloso was nabbed at Adisucipto Airport in Yogyakarta with 2.6 kilograms of heroin hidden in the lining of her bag in April 2010.
Sources: (youtube.com, rappler.com, globalnation.inquirer.net, news.abs-cbn.com, gmanetwork.com)
[ads3]
