Mary Jane celebrates Christmas with family

MANILA, Philippines — After 14 years on death row in Indonesia, Mary Jane Veloso celebrated Christmas with her family yesterday.

Veloso’s parents, her two sons and 21 other relatives visited her at the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City.

A photograph shared by Migrante International showed Veloso’s relatives outside the CIW compound.

One of them held a yellow lantern with an image of Veloso.

Migrante chairperson Joanna Concepcion said Veloso’s family stayed with her until afternoon.

Since Veloso remains a prisoner, her relatives were only allowed to bring food and not gifts.

They were also prohibited from taking pictures and videos of their gathering inside the prison facility.

Veloso’s father, Cesar, said they brought her favorite food: tinumis, a blood stew dish from their home province of Nueva Ecija, along with sinigang na baboy, spaghetti, salad and puto or rice cake.

“Babawi kami talaga maghapon. Palagay ko hindi ko na mabibitawan ‘yung aking anak lalo na pagka malapit na ‘yung uwian namin,” Cesar said in an interview on GMA News.

Veloso’s mother, Celia, said she considered the event a “miracle from God,” as they had lost hope that they would be spending Christmas with her until the Indonesian government agreed to repatriate the death row convict on Dec. 18.

“We thought we would die without seeing Mary Jane again,” Celia said.

When asked for their Christmas wish, Cesar reiterated their appeal to President Marcos to grant clemency to Veloso so their reunion would be complete.

“Please, have mercy on Mary Jane. She has suffered long enough,” Cesar said.

The International Association of Democratic Lawyers earlier urged Marcos to free Veloso by way of absolute pardon on compassionate grounds.