Condemned Filipino woman spends birthday with family in Indonesian jail

A convicted Filipino woman was visited by her parents and children for her birthday in an Indonesian prison on Tuesday as she waited for execution of her death sentence.

Mary Jane Veloso was the only convict spared from execution in Indonesia in April last year following a last-minute information on developing legal process of her case in the Philippines conveyed by the Philippine government.

She was part of nine people scheduled for execution at that time. The execution of drug traffickers was under the order of Indonesian President Joko Widodo to crack down on rampant drug abuses in the country.

Veloso, a former overseas worker, met with her parents as well as her two children, who brought her gifts for her 31st birthday which falls on Jan. 10.

During the visit, her family members were accompanied by officials from the Philippines Foreign Ministry, the Philippines embassy in Indonesia and Migrante International, an organization that provided legal assistance to her.

Laorence Castillo, an official of Migrante International, said legal process against the woman who smuggled drugs to Indonesia was slowly progressing in the Philippines.

"That is why we continue to urge the Philippines government to speed up the legal process," Castillo was quoted as saying by local media.

Veloso was arrested at Indonesia's Yogyakarta airport in April 2010 for carrying 2.6 kg of heroin in her bag. She was jailed in Wirogunan penitentiary waiting for execution after being sentenced to death by a Yogyakarta court in August 2011. Endit