MANILA, Philippines - Legislators on Wednesday recommended the recall of the Philippine consul general in Jakarta due to the complaints of the family and private lawyers of Filipino worker Mary Jane Veloso, who is sitting in death row in Indonesia.
During the congressional inquiry, the House Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs recommended the recall of Consul General Robert Manalo for allegedly bungling the case of the Veloso.
Based on the complaint of Veloso's private lawyers from the National Union of People's Lawyers (NUPL), Manalo failed to provide a competent translator to Mary Jane during her trial in Indonesia for the drug trafficking case in 2010.
Manalo also did not act in 2011 the request of the Philippine embassy to look into the allegation that Veloso was a victim of illegal recruitment, the NUPL complaint read.
Lawyer Edre Olalia of NUPL said the Philippine consul general only provided Veloso with a private Indonesia legal counsel when she had already been convicted by the court.
"Manalo did assert or protest the exclusion of NUPL from the last island jail visit (to Veloso)," Olalia said, noting that the Philippine government official even badmouthed the private lawyers.
Olalia also claimed that Manalo has threatened to cut the visits of the family members to Veloso in Indonesia if they grant interviews with journalists who want to get an update on the case.
Veloso's execution has been indefinitely stayed after Philippine authorities arrested her alleged illegal recruiters, Maria Cristina Sergio and Julius Lacanilao.
The human trafficking, large scale illegal recruitment and estafa cases against the two are now being heard before a Nueva Ecija court.