Pinoy Buzz: Firing Squad

Battle for Life Continues: Indonesia delays Mary Jane Veloso’s execution

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">MANILA, Philippines - Tears of joy erupted among her family and the public holding a vigil in front of the Indonesian embassy in Makati City upon news confirming the <a href="http://pinoybuzz.blogkorner.com/2015/04/indonesia-to-execute-mary-jane-veloso-by-firing-squad-on-tuesday.html" rel="nofollow">Filipina drug convict Mary Jane Veloso</a> got a last-minute reprieve from the Indonesian government earlier this morning, April 29.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjryj_5TZraCTabWJo20anV8lz6pgV3OShisWeV5iVZRiIER0Olt8Ivu4Qw__9XMiqBjg5Oj52tka37zweI5eTqiz5Ij_VShhP2himSEazTual9JMMCUpHoXIBJNudJoyA2eWIfQ5pOPB4i/s1600/Mary-Jane-Veloso.jpg" imageanchor="1" rel="nofollow" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Mary Jane Veloso" border="0" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjryj_5TZraCTabWJo20anV8lz6pgV3OShisWeV5iVZRiIER0Olt8Ivu4Qw__9XMiqBjg5Oj52tka37zweI5eTqiz5Ij_VShhP2himSEazTual9JMMCUpHoXIBJNudJoyA2eWIfQ5pOPB4i/s1600/Mary-Jane-Veloso.jpg" title="Mary Jane Veloso" width="560" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mary Jane Veloso| Credit: Jefta Images/Barcroft Media Collection</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The announcement was officially made by the Indonesia’s Attorney General Office earlier. There are two sides rumored to be the reasons on Veloso’s temporary escape from Indonesia’s 12-man firing squad – her personal letter of appeal and the voluntary submission to the authorities of Veloso’s recruiter named Maria Kristina Sergio. With the sudden turnaround of the events, Manila is hoping that Veloso may be turned as a witness from being a convicted drug smuggler to aid in Indonesia and the Philippines in their efforts to curb drug related crimes.<br /><br /><b>#MARYJANELIVES AND THE DIGITAL PEOPLE POWER</b><br /><br />The Twitterverse was greeted with a jubilant crowd as the hashtag #MaryJaneLives trended both in the Philippines and worldwide as news of her last-minute temporary escape from death surfaced. News about Veloso’s reprieve also graced the headlines of various local and global media platforms.<br /><br />Veloso, a 30-year old mother of two and a former Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) in Dubai has spent the last five years of her life in prison after being caught with a USD 500,000 worth of heroin in her luggage weighing about 2.6 kilograms on her arrival at Adisucipto International Airport in Yogyakarta way back in April 2010. <br /><br />Unfortunately, it was only Veloso who was saved from the execution as the other eight convicted drug smugglers already faced their fate. Indonesia’s staunch move is said to put strain on its bilateral relationships with other countries. As of this writing, reports are saying that the Australian government already pulled out its Australian ambassador to Jakarta with its Prime Minister Tony Abbot describes the execution as “cruel and unnecessary.” The French government is putting more pressure to Widodo’s administration as it is also trying to save its convicted national, Serge Atlaoui from death.<br /><br />Indonesia is known to have one of the world’s most stringent set of laws to combat drug-related crimes among countries such as Singapore, China, Saudi Arabia and Japan with death penalty as its ultimate punishment to convicted perpetrators of the said crime. <b><i>- Michael Santiago, TheSummitExpress</i></b></div>

Battle for Life Continues: Indonesia delays Mary Jane Veloso’s execution

MANILA, Philippines - Tears of joy erupted among her family and the public holding a vigil in front of the Indonesian embassy in Makati City...

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">MANILA, Philippines - Despite the appeals made by the Philippines, the Indonesian government vows to adhere with its stringent anti-drug law by executing the eight convicted drug smugglers, including the Filipina Mary Jane Veloso on Tuesday, April 28.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-RZ0sMPtJ7NwrOU4uPlUvh455dwhaDPfXJc3I8EQJGZYe-w2Nuw9C9ylRxwfN8nNeqmlzdmO4ZXHzln6jcUsDaWTNkpdvHqndJNi2zGJDJmEIuB3q2R5maZlvbnK1M63NKnLBInd55aA5/s1600/savemaryjane.jpg" imageanchor="1" rel="nofollow" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Save Mary Jane Veloso" border="0" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-RZ0sMPtJ7NwrOU4uPlUvh455dwhaDPfXJc3I8EQJGZYe-w2Nuw9C9ylRxwfN8nNeqmlzdmO4ZXHzln6jcUsDaWTNkpdvHqndJNi2zGJDJmEIuB3q2R5maZlvbnK1M63NKnLBInd55aA5/s1600/savemaryjane.jpg" title="Save Mary Jane Veloso" width="600" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Save Mary Jane Veloso | Credit:migranteinternational.org</td></tr></tbody></table><br />According to an online report pertaining to Veloso’s current situation by PTV-4, a government owned television network of the Philippines, the Attorney General Office of Indonesia sent the order of execution to Veloso’s family last Friday, April 24. Together with other convicted drug smugglers from Nigeria, Australia and Brazil, Veloso was already transferred to the island prison Nusakambangan in Indonesia for their execution via firing squad.<br /><br />Veloso, a 30-year old mother of two and a former Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) in Dubai has spent the last five years of her life in prison after being caught with a USD 500,000 worth of heroin in her luggage weighing about 2.6 kilograms on her arrival at Adisucipto International Airport in Yogyakarta way back in April 2010. Since then, the Philippine government has sent numerous appeals to save Veloso’s life but to no avail even as of the moment.<br /><br /><br /><b>#SAVEMARYJANE: Pinoy netizens hopeful for Veloso</b><br /><br />Public outcry for saving Veloso’s life has been making rounds in and out of the internet, the online Facebook page ‘Save the Life of Mary Jane Veloso’ which already garnered 6,200 likes as of this writing has been actively mustering a bolder support from the public. Earlier this afternoon also, Secretary General Renato Reyes of BAYAN posted on his Facebook account photos of the vigil in front of the Indonesian embassy calling to save Veloso’s life. <br /><br /><center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">Urgent! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SaveMaryJane?src=hash" rel="nofollow">#SaveMaryJane</a> <a href="https://t.co/ZOOVNTgxqY" rel="nofollow">https://t.co/ZOOVNTgxqY</a> via <a href="https://twitter.com/changepilipinas" rel="nofollow">@ChangePilipinas</a><br />— Greta Talip (@gretawallofchna) <a href="https://twitter.com/gretawallofchna/status/592302985910296576" rel="nofollow">April 26, 2015</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></center><br /><center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">Triple-jeopardy: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MaryJaneVeloso?src=hash" rel="nofollow">#MaryJaneVeloso</a> is a victim of international drug syndicate, human trafficking, and PH government neglect. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SaveMaryJane?src=hash" rel="nofollow">#SaveMaryJane</a><br />— Cleve V. Arguelles (@clevearguelles) <a href="https://twitter.com/clevearguelles/status/592302881740492800" rel="nofollow">April 26, 2015</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></center><br /><center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">Calling on PH youth and students: let's hold assemblies, candle lighting activities, tie white ribbons to call for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SaveMaryJane?src=hash" rel="nofollow">#SaveMaryJane</a><br />— Vencer Crisostomo (@venzie) <a href="https://twitter.com/venzie/status/592289834888200193" rel="nofollow">April 26, 2015</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></center><br />The hashtag #SaveMaryJane has been trending also on Twitter over the past days.<br /><br />Meanwhile, the Catholic officials from the Philippines and Indonesia has been urging the public to strengthen Veloso’s chances of being spared from the deathrow by asking to offer prayers for her. Masses for Veloso were also held the past weeks in both countries.<br /><br /><br /><b>Jokowi remains dignified against criticisms, PNoy going for another push for Veloso</b><br /><br />UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also aired his appeal to Indonesian President Joko Widodo DK to spare the convicts from death Jokowi as he was fondly called by his countrymen remains unopposed with his stand on pushing through with the execution despite also of various pleas made by the foreign governments representing those who were in deathrow. President Benigno Aquino III will exhume the remaining resources that his government has to save Veloso when he meets again with Jokowi tomorrow, April 27 at the ASEAN Summit in Malaysia.<br /><br /><b><i>- Michael Santiago, TheSummitExpress</i></b></div>

Indonesia to execute Mary Jane Veloso by Firing Squad on Tuesday

MANILA, Philippines - Despite the appeals made by the Philippines, the Indonesian government vows to adhere with its stringent anti-drug law...