Iloilo Rep. Jerry Treñas, the Liberal Party’s whip for Visayas, couldn’t care less if the alleged recruiters of Filipina convict Mary Jane Veloso replace her on the Indonesian island where she was set to be executed because they duped her.
In a statement, Treñas expressed support for any legal action that will be undertaken by the Philippine government to make Veloso’s alleged recruiters, Maria Kristina Sergio, and her live-in partner Julius Lacanilao, accountable for using the 30-year-old mother of two to transport illegal drugs to Indonesia without her knowledge.
Veloso, who was caught with 2.6 kilograms of heroin in her luggage, was sentenced to death in 2010 and was supposed to be executed by a firing last Wednesday at the Nusa Kambangan island but was granted a last-minute reprieve by the Indonesian government. The Philippine government had appealed for a stay of her execution so she could testify against Sergio.
Treñas said the prosecution of Veloso’s alleged recruiters would give justice not just to her but for the “millions of young people in the world who destroyed their future because of drug addiction.”
“Mary Jane was victimized by Sergio and Lacanilao because she is naive and she is poor. Many more like her will fall victim to these drug smuggling rings if the people use and manipulate people like Mary Jane are not punished,” he said.
“They are a menace to our society and I would not mind if they replaced Mary Jane in Indonesia’s dreaded execution island,” he added.
