HOTSPOT
Fandoms of traditional politicians are fighting among themselves for the glory of who should be credited for saving the life and working for the return of Mary Jane Veloso. It is a despicable exercise of trapo worship at the expense of Veloso, and an insult to overseas Filipinos and to victims of trafficking.
Trapo fandoms of all stripes are bashing one another in their quest to prop up their preferred lord and savior for Veloso.
Good thing, we have others who don’t agree to be part of the trapo-centered narratives and reject their talking points.
I’m referring to the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), who serve as counsels for Veloso and her family, and to the OFW group Migrante International, and to what these groups say.
For the NUPL, Veloso is a victim and not a criminal who must be punished.
This is of utmost importance, because it could provide the president and the government the legal, moral and political basis to immediately award Mary Jane presidential clemency or pardon upon her return.
Otherwise, the president or his rivals would sound something like this: “Allow us to punish Mary Jane ourselves and in our own land and under our own laws.”
NUPL reminds everyone about the Palermo Protocol, or the 2000 Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime which states that “a trafficked person is exempted from criminal liability and the consent of the victim is irrelevant in the commission of trafficking.”
Both the Philippines and Indonesia are parties to this protocol.
Moreover, the NUPL cites the Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 21, the Eradication of the Criminal Act of Trafficking in Persons, which defines trafficking in persons as, “among others, the recruitment, transportation, and sending of a person through deception and other means for the purpose of exploiting the person within the territory of Indonesia.”
The Philippines’ own Republic Act 9208, the Philippine Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2008, provides that trafficked persons shall be recognized as victims of trafficking and as such, “shall not be penalized for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of, or as an incident or in relation to, being trafficked.”
President Marcos and every Filipino should stand solidly for Mary Jane’s innocence under international protocol, and the laws of Indonesia and the Philippines.
If there’s anyone who should be punished, those are the illegal recruiters, human traffickers, and drug traffickers who victimized Veloso.
NUPL and Migrante have been single-minded in defending Mary Jane’s innocence, and in drawing as much support here and abroad for her case.
We honor President Aquino’s efforts that led to a stay in Mary Jane’s execution, and also honor President Marcos’ diplomatic breakthrough that could now lead to her return to the Philippines.
But we hope President Marcos would seriously think about this reminder from the NUPL: “If there is something that Veloso deserves, it is justice, which has been denied and has long eluded her and her family. Asking for ‘grace’ to permit her safe return to the Philippines should not be conditioned on any commitment to punish her in her home country.”
There is always a strong urge to gaslight Mary Jane, as gaslighting is in the DNA of many traditional politicians when faced with people’s problems. Families of OFWs and victims of illegal recruiters and drug traffickers should push back against gaslighting and victim-blaming of all sorts.
Instead of engaging in a festival of gaslighting and victim-blaming, the Philippine government should crack down on illegal recruiters and drug traffickers, and give them no special treatment or leniency. We want to see these syndicates identified and dismantled, and the leaders prosecuted to the full extent of the law. We also want to see their accomplices in the immigration bureau, airports and seaports arrested and prosecuted. They are the criminals, not the likes of Mary Jane.
The Department of Migrant Workers, the Department of Justice and the National Bureau of Investigation should seize the initiative upon Mary Jane’s return to prosecute her illegal recruiters and drug traffickers, and make foreign work and travel safer for Filipinos.
Mary Jane Veloso turns 40 on Jan. 10, 2025. Hopefully she celebrates it as a free and innocent Filipino in her own country. If Indonesia and the Philippines would agree on an earlier repatriation date, Christmas 2024 would be a lot merrier.