(Eagle News) — The Palace on Saturday, Aug. 15, welcomed the Supreme Court’s final decision allowing Mary Jane Veloso to testify against her alleged recruiters while she is imprisoned for drug trafficking in Indonesia.
“Nagagalak po kami diyan dahil at least, makikita natin na si Ms. Veloso po ay naging biktima kung tatanggapin yung kaniyang testimoniya,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said.
With the SC’s final decision on March 4, the Nueva Ecija court hearing the charges against Julius Lacanilao and Maria Cristina Sergio can schedule Veloso’s testimony by way of deposition through written interrogatories.
The decision stemmed from a motion for reconsideration filed by both Lacanilao and Sergio of the High Court’s October 2019 decision allowing the Nueva Ecija court to get Veloso’s testimony.
The High Court decision reaffirmed the regional trial court’s ruling, which had been reversed by the Court of Appeals.
Veloso was convicted and sentenced for execution in Yogyakarta after 2.6 kilograms of heroin were found in her luggage in the Indonesian airport in 2010.
Veloso said she had been tricked by her recruiters–Lacanilao and Sergio– intro bringing the illegal drugs.
Veloso’s execution was deferred in 2015, after Lacanilao and Sergio surrendered to the Nueva Ecija Provincial Police Office, citing threats to their lives.
The surrender came after the National Bureau of Investigation filed charges for illegal recruitment, human trafficking and estafa against the couple and another known only as “Ike.”