Palace on Veloso case: What can the president do?

MANILA, Philippines — The case of convicted Filipina worker Mary Jane Veloso completely lies in the hands of the Indonesian government, Malacañang said Thursday.

On Wednesday, Veloso appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte to allow her to testify against her recruiters, Cristina Sergio and Julies Lacanilao, who tricked her to smuggle drugs.

“President Duterte, just like the case I am facing now, if you will not give me a chance to testify to reveal the truth in this case, how then will you be able to know that I am only a victim and the one who violated the law was Cristina Sergio?” Veloso said in a recorded message via phone call.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, on the other hand, stressed that Veloso is detained on foreign soil due to a breach of Indonesian laws.

"I don’t understand what exactly the president can do in this regard," Roque said.

In April 2015, Veloso was granted a last-minute reprieve after the request of then-President Benigno Aquino III to spare her from facing the firing squad. The former president made the request following the surrender of Sergio.

The Indonesian government has already shown clemency to Veloso on a daily basis by not carrying out the punishment, Roque said.

Last week, the Court of Appeals granted the petition of Sergio and Lacanilao to bar a local judge from observing Veloso's testimony through deposition in Wirongunan Penitentiary, where she is detained in Indonesia.

The ruling reversed the earlier decision of the Nueva Ecija Regional Trial Court allowing Judge Anarica Castillo-Reyes to consider Veloso's deposition.