Mary Jane Veloso —Photo courtesy of Jaringan Tolak Hukuman Mati (Anticapital Punishment Network)

MANILA, Philippines – Mary Jane Veloso, the Filipino death row convict whose sentence was commuted by Indonesia and is poised to be transferred to the Philippines, will be given the choice of where to serve the rest of her prison term upon her return, the chief of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) said on Monday.

According to BuCor Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr., preparations are under way for Veloso’s homecoming, after more than a decade of negotiations between Manila and Jakarta on the fate of the woman convicted of drug trafficking and meted the death penalty in 2010.

READ: Ma excited to cook Mary Jane Veloso’s ‘homecoming’ meal

Veloso will initially be brought to the Reception and Diagnostic Center of the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City—a minimum security compound—where she will stay for a month or less for a medical assessment, the BuCor head said.

Veloso may later choose in which penal farm she wants to be detained, including BuCor facilities in Metro Manila, Palawan or Davao, for her rehabilitation and reformation, he said.

“She can choose to stay in Palawan; it’s cozy there, or in Davao. We also have a CIW there. She can be employed at the banana plantation and she can work right away if she’s skilled enough,” Catapang said.

Last week, President Marcos announced that Manila and Jakarta had agreed to transfer Veloso back home after “long and difficult negotiations.”

Reports said Indonesia’s newly elected president, Prabowo Subianto, “approved the transfer,” which is expected to happen in December.

While in detention, Veloso will undergo a reintegration program under the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) where she will train for a specific technical or livelihood skill that she could use upon regaining freedom, Catapang said.

“She will receive Tesda training to acquire skills so she can go back to a normal life,” he said.

There was no information yet on Veloso’s remaining time in prison.

“Veloso is already sentenced. We are just applying the sentence of the Indonesia government,” Catapang said.

The corrections chief also assured the public of Veloso’s safety under BuCor custody, following concerns aired by her family about possible reprisals from an “international syndicate” believed to be responsible for her ordeal.

Veloso, now 39, was arrested in 2010 at the Yogyakarta airport in Indonesia after 2.6 kilograms of heroin was found in her suitcase. She was later sentenced to death by firing squad. Her family and supporters insisted she was innocent and was unaware of the illegal drugs in her luggage provided by her recruiters.

In 2015, when Veloso was set to be executed, she was granted a last-minute reprieve after Philippine authorities informed their Indonesian counterparts that her recruiters had surrendered and were in the custody of law enforcers.

Veloso’s family earlier appealed to the government for her immediate clemency, or if not possible, to keep her in a safe place where her former recruiters could not reach her.

Her mother had said in radio interviews that she’d rather have her daughter remain incarcerated in Indonesia, where she believed Veloso would be treated better.

“We will guarantee her safety and security,” Catapang said, adding: “The CIW houses female prisoners only. There are no drug lords there. Many of the drug lords are in Mindoro.”

BuCor is in the process of transferring all inmates involved in drug-related cases into a single “supermax” (super maximum) facility in Occidental Mindoro.

Officials earlier said the governments of Indonesia and the Philippines should come to an agreement on the matter of giving Veloso clemency, as Manila was obligated to fulfill its commitments to Jakarta.

“On the transfer of Mary Jane Veloso from the Indonesian government to the Philippines, we are bound to honor the conditions that would be set for the transfer, particularly the service of sentence by Mary Jane in the Philippines, save the death penalty which is prohibited under our laws,” the Department of Justice and the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a joint statement.

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Details of the agreement and the specific conditions regarding Veloso’s transfer were still being negotiated as of last week.lolliplay

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