Kapag napatunayang nilansi lang si Mary Jane Veloso ng kanyang recruiter kaya nagkaroon ito ng heroin sa kanyang bagahe, doon lang pwedeng humirit ng clemency o kapatawaran si Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte.
Ito ang inihayag ni Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella, kung saan binigyang diin nito na hindi napapanahon ang paghirit ng Pangulo nang magtungo ito sa Indonesia kamakailan.
“Even before the visit to Indonesia, the execution of Mary Jane Veloso has been indefinitely deferred. Indonesia has previously agreed to allow Ms. Veloso to testify through deposition on the criminal prosecution of her illegal recruiters in the Philippines,” ani Abella sa press briefing sa Palasyo.
Ito rin ang tono ni Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr., na nagsabing “The President also intimated to me that at a given time in the future, particularly when the decision here [in Manila] would have been arrived at, and on the assumption that the recruiters will be found guilty and the findings of the court will be to the effect that Mary Jane Veloso was simply a victim, that would be the proper time that clemency will be asked.”
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Batikos pa Kahapon, binatikos ng College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) ang Pangulo matapos ihayag ni Indonesian President Joko Widodo na may go-signal na si Duterte sa execution ni Veloso.
Ayon kay CEGP national president Jose Mari Callueng, mistulang isinurender na ang laban para kay Veloso.
“It is the legal system of Indonesia which brought Mary Jane to her current ordeal, so saying that Indonesia should follow its own laws is like surrendering the fight for Mary Jane’s reprieve,” ani Callueng.
Apela pa
Umaasa naman ni Balanga Bishop Ruperto Santos, chairman of the CBCP Episcopal Commission on the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, na ipagpapatuloy pa rin ng pamahalaan ang pag-apela para sa buhay ni Veloso.
“We urge that the court cases against her illegal recruiters be pursued more vigorously as its resolution could help the situation of Mary Jane,” dagdag pa nito.
Ganito rin ang hirit sa pamahalaan ng human rights, cause-oriented at students groups na nagmartsa pa sa Mendiola kahapon. (GENALYN KABILING, CHITO CHAVEZ at LESLIE ANN AQUINO)
