They are holding on to a buoyant hope, albeit thinly, that Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso who was found by the Indonesian court guilty of attempting to smuggle heroin into that country, may be delivered from her execution, or even win an acquittal.
Her parents, siblings, and children are storming heaven with prayers so that a favorable decision on Mary Jane’s second appeal of her case may come out from the Indonesian Supreme Court.
“Dasal po kami nang dasal. Nagro-rosaryo po kami gabi-gabi at sama- samang nagsisimba kung Linggo. Pati po mga pare at iba naming kakilala ay kasama naming ipinagdarasal na huwag pong matuloy ang pagbitay sa kanya (We are praying and praying. We are reciting the rosary nightly and are going together to Church every Sunday. Even the priests and some of those who know us join in our prayers),” Marites, elder sister of Mary Jane, said Tuesday.
Marites even showed the rosary she is using for her prayers, which is hanging like a necklace on her neck. She said the rosary was given her by Mary Jane who requested
for prayers.
Mary Jane, who turned 30 last Janurary 10, was sentenced to death by the Sleman District Court in Indonesia in October 2010 for attempting to smuggle 2.611 kilograms of heroin into Indonesia from Malaysia in April that year, according to information from Amnesty International.
She arrived at the Indonesian airport aboard Air Asia flight 594 from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and was subsequently arrested by Indonesian authorities when the concealed heroin was found in her travelling bag.
She was suspected by Indonesian authorities as a courier of an international illegal drugs syndicate.
Her request for clemency was rejected by Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo.
Mary Jane’s parents, Cesar, 59, and Cristina, 54, were out somewhere tending each their rolling stores when Punto! visited their place here.
On the compound, two other households, aside from those of the parents, are situated –one of them owned by Marites and the other by another sister. One sister is in Bahrain and the only male sibling is in a Nueva Ecija town.
The compound is owned by the husband of one of the siblings.
Mary Jane has two children who are staying with their paternal grandparents, in a nearby town.
First time in Indonesia
As revealed by Marites, who has been speaking for the family, Mary Jane was born in Sta. Barbara in Baliuag, Bulacan but went on to grow up in La Paz town, Tarlac, Angeles City and this city as her parents moved from one odd job to another.
Mary Jane, about 4 feet and 11 inches tall, who is fourth among five children, didn’t get to finish first year in high school. She married at age 16, but after two children, the marriage didn’t work well.
She worked in Dubai in 2009-2010 as domestic helper but went home because of an alleged rape attempt by her employer.
“She was convinced by a lady acquaintance in a nearby town to work in Malaysia who provided her with travel papers as a tourist and a free ticket,” Maritess said in Tagalog. “She and her friend left on April 22, 2010 for Malaysia for a job as a domestic helper of her friend’s acquaintance,” she added.
In subsequent calls, Marites said her sister told her that she was proceeding to Indonesia, also with the help of her friend, as the job in Malaysia was no longer available. She also said her friend bought her personal belongings and a big travelling bag for her more beneficial work in Indonesia.
“My sister was only carrying a backpack and few pieces of clothing when she left,” Marites said. “She was thankful that her friend even bought her good clothing and a travelling bag to be more presentable for a much high-paying job in Indonesia,” she added.
The bag was brought in by two men who were introduced to her by her friend.
“She complained that the bag was heavy although it was still empty.
She was casually told that it was because the bag was very new,” Marites said. “She said she was even assisted by her friend in packing her things in the bag,” she added.
She was not accompanied by her friend, though, as she was told somebody will meet her (Mary Jane) at the airport in Indonesia, she added.
“It was only after 15 days that she confessed to us that she was apprehended at the airport for alleged heroin smuggling and that she was in jail,” Marites said. “She said the X-ray machine at the airport showed her travelling bag had a concealed big quantity of heroin”, she added.
She said they confronted her lady friend, who admitted her fault, but asked them to keep quiet as they can bail out Mary Jane from her problem. It was only after six months that they started appealing to authorities to help her sister about her problem in Indonesia.
She added that Marites’ friend, who she said used three names, has returned abroad.
DFA help
“Malaki po ang naitulong sa amin ng ating foreign affairs lalo na po ni Secretary (Albert) del Rosario at kanyang mga opisyales at tauhan sa kaso ng aking kapatid (The Department of Foreign Affairs, especially Secretary del Rosario and his officials and personnel helped us a lot in attending to our sister’s case).” Marites said. “Binigyan po siya ng abugado at tinulungan pa po kaming madalaw siya roon nitong nakaraang Pebrero (She was given a lawyer and we were helped in visiting her in jail last February),” she added.
Her parents, herself, a brother of hers and the six-year son of Marites visited Mary Jane last February, thru the DFA assistance.
“It was for the first time in five years that Marites met her young child. She hugged and embraced him for hours and they cried a lot,” Marites said.
She also revealed that for her parents, it was the second time in five years that they were able to visit Marites. It was the Indonesian friends in jail who helped secure financial aid for her parents trip and stay in Indonesia for a few days.
She said Mary Jane is hoping that her appeal in her second-case review, which was brought to the Indonesian Supreme Court last March 4, would result to something positive as them court accepted her additional evidence and witnesses and her defense that the interpreter provided her during the hearing was only a student and was not very much knowledgeable in English or Tagalog. She added that Marites was given a new lawyer.
“My sister was duped. If she was a courier for an international illegal drug syndicate, she could have bailed out her parents and children from grinding poverty,” Marites said.
In her last call, she said, Marites sounded very religious.
“Igayak natin ang ating loob sa mangyayari. Manalig tayo sa kalooban ng Diyos (Let’s prepare ourselves for any eventuality. Let’s leave it to the will of God),” she said.
Marites appealed to the public not to judge her sister harshly.
“The best thing that they can do is to join us in prayers for the deliverance of Marites from execution,” Marites said.
