Senate President Chiz Escudero has called on the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to provide all the necessary legal assistance to Filipinos jailed overseas to secure their freedom, following the successful return of Mary Jane Veloso from Indonesia, where she was sentenced to death for drug trafficking.
Veloso had spent more than 14 years in an Indonesian prison, and Escudero said her case should serve as “a wake-up call for all of us to focus on the plight of similarly situated Filipinos,” as he put to task the DFA to make an accounting of those Filipinos languishing in jail or facing legal woes.
“I hope that Mary Jane’s repatriation is only the first of many Filipinos similarly situated in various parts of the world,” the veteran legislator said. “This (Veloso’s return) proves that PBBM (President Bongbong Marcos) and his government truly care for Filipinos who are in foreign lands and away from their families.”
“The state should make the Filipinos in distress overseas feel the long arm of government to protect and shield them whenever they need help.”
In all instances, the Senate President said, the state should make the Filipinos in distress overseas feel “the long arm of government to protect and shield them whenever they need help.”
The seasoned lawmaker said the DFA, through its foreign missions, should work alongside the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) whenever they are alerted about cases of Filipinos facing legal troubles overseas.
“They should find out the nature of the cases against them. What has been or can be done to help them regain their liberty . . . and assist them to make their detention more bearable,” he said.
Part of the government assistance should also include checking on the families of the affected Filipinos to see “if they are alright and how we can help them visit and see their loved ones deprived of liberty abroad”.
“The government should explore and push for treaties with more countries.”
If necessary, Escudero said, the government should explore and push for treaties with more countries that would allow Filipinos convicted in foreign courts to serve their sentences in the Philippines “so that they can be closer to their loved ones”.
After spending more than 14 years in prison in Indonesia for drug trafficking, Veloso has returned home after the Marcos administration successfully negotiated for her release and transfer to Philippine authorities.
Veloso had been sentenced to death, but she was spared from execution after the late former President Benigno Aquino III made a personal appeal with his Indonesian counterpart.
