On Monday, September 12, the Malacañang Palace denied reports that President Rodrigo Duterte is giving his go signal to execute Mary Jane Veloso who is convicted to death for alleged involvement in drug trafficking.
This controversial report has been spreading online after Jakarta Post published reports that President Duterte has given full authority for Mary Jane Veloso’s execution.
Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said Duterte was telling the Indonesian President Joko Widodo during their meeting to follow their own laws and he will not interfere.
Abella clarifies that Duterte did not endorse Mary Jane Veloso for execution thus only saying the President will not interfere with Indonesia’s legal processes.
Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. insisted that Veloso’s execution has been postponed and that President Duterte respects the judicial processes and will accept their final decision on Veloso’s case and doesn’t doubt the judicial system of Indonesia.
The tough President who is pushing for the reinstatement of the death penalty as capital punishment in the Philippines reveals that he would not know how to react if he were in Widodo’s place.
Veloso who is supposed to be executed by firing squad on April 2015 was spared at the 11th hour after her alleged recruiter surrendered to authorities in the Philippines.
