A prisoner at the centre of a Vancouver public-art campaign could be home in time for Christmas. In 2015, Mary Jane Veloso was on the verge of being shot to death by a firing squad in Indonesia. This came after the former Filipina domestic worker had been convicted of smuggling 2.6 kilograms of heroin in her luggage through Jakarta’s airport.
Veloso proclaimed her innocence and in response to public pressure, the Indonesian government delayed her execution. Five years later, two people who recruited Veloso as an unwitting drug mule were convicted in the Philippines.
This month, the Indonesian government signed an agreement with the Philippines to finally send Veloso back to her home country .
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In a jailhouse interview, Veloso recently told AFP that her upcoming transfer is a “miracle”. She’s looking forward to being reunited with her two sons after being imprisoned since 2010.
“What I’m certain about is my first priority: focusing on my family,” Veloso said.
Migrante Canada campaigned for Veloso
Earlier this year, Migrante Canada executive committee member Erie Maestro told Pancouver that Veloso was a victim of human trafficking and drug trafficking. An illegal recruiter handed Veloso the incriminating suitcase and promised her a job in Indonesia.
Veloso barely avoided capital punishment in 2015.
“Out of eight who were supposed to be executed that day, she was the only one who was given a reprieve,” Maestro told Pancouver. “But that was a reprieve. She went back on death row.”
Maestro discussed Veloso’s plight with her sister, Lani Maestro, a celebrated Canadian artist from the Philippines. Lani decided to create a work of art to draw attention to the case.
Lani’s piece, entitled her name, includes a QR code sharing details of Veloso’s unjust imprisonment.
“As creative people, solitude remains essential to our creativity but in the urgency of our times we must find a balance between solitude and solidarity, between feeling and action, between the intimacy of one’s self, the intimacy of humankind” Lani told Pancouver. “When our compassion brings about action, there is no denying that a certain truth will prevail.”
Earlier this year, Veloso’s supporters in Vancouver arranged to display her name at several locations in East Vancouver. Sites included Vancouver-Kensington NDP MLA Mable Elmore’s constituency office, Pampanga’s Best Cafeteria (4279 Fraser Street), St. Mary the Virgin Anglican church (808 East 50th Avenue), and Bahay Migrante in the basement of 4794 Fraser Street.
In addition, her name was included in HOHOL (Hang Out Hang Out Lang), an exhibition of Filipino Canadian artists at grunt gallery from June 16 to August 17.
Update
Indonesia announced that Veloso will be returned to the Philippines on December 18. In an email, Maestro said that human rights groups want the president of the Philippines to give Veloso clemency so she can be with her family rather than being sent to a women’s correctional facility.
Follow Pancouver on Twitter @PancouverMedia and on Instagram @PancouverMedia. Follow Charlie Smith on Bluesky @charliesmithvcr.bsky.social.
