Celia and Cesar Veloso, parents of Mary Jane Veloso. ABS-CBN News
NUEVA ECIJA -- Hope filled the family of Mary Jane Veloso, the Filipina convicted of drug trafficking in Indonesia, after the Supreme Court allowed her to testify through deposition against her alleged recruiters in Nueva Ecija, a development that could affect her status on death row.
"Masayang-masaya po ako dahil binigyan nila ng pagkakataon na makapagsalita si Mary Jane at maipagtanggol niya ang sarili niya," Veloso's mother Celia said.
(I am elated because they gave Mary Jane a chance to explain her side and defend herself.)
"Sobrang saya ko. Sana itong taon na ito makalaya na ang aking anak. Wala naman siyang kasalanan," her father Cesar added.
(I am happy, maybe this time my daughter will be released since she's innocent.)
Veloso's parents and her eldest child visited her earlier this month through the help of an Indonesian priest. Veloso, meanwhile, gave her youngest child a bag that she made herself.
In October 2010, an Indonesian court sentenced Veloso to death by firing squad. She was supposed to be executed on April 29, 2015 but a last-minute reprieve spared her life, following the surrender of her recruiters, Cristina Sergio and Julius Lacanilao, who were her neighbors in Talavera, Nueva Ecija.
Veloso's family said they hope they would get the justice they have long prayed for.
-- Report from Elaine Fulgencio, ABS-CBN News