We officially received today a copy of the 16 January 2018 Motion for Reconsideration of the Decision of the Philippine Court of Appeals dated 13 December 2017 filed by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG). The Motion in effect supports our consistent stand assailing the injunction against the taking of the deposition of Mary Jane Veloso who remains in death row in Indonesia since 2010.

We gladly welcome this position by the OSG on this specific case and particular issue as it is compatible and is on all fours with our submission as Philippine counsels for Mary Jane and her family.

It must again be pointed out that her recruiters who are facing criminal charges for qualified human trafficking, illegal recruitment and swindling in the Philippine Regional Trial Court in Nueva Ecija have already categorically and unequivocally admitted in their sworn Counter-Affidavit dated May 18, 2015 submitted to the Philippine Department of Justice that Mary Jane was clueless and was a victim and is therefore innocent of knowingly smuggling the heroin found in the luggage she was asked to carry.

Hence, to stop her from testifying is not only simply absurd and a gross injustice but is a matter of life and death for her.#

National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL)
Philippine Counsel for Mary Jane Veloso and Family
Private Prosecutors

Reference:
Atty. Edre U. Olalia
NUPL President
+639175113373