Human rights group Karapatan said President Benigno Aquino III should be held accountable for the case of the overseas Filipino worker on death row in Indonesia.
Cristina Palabay, secretary general of the group said “the gross inability of the Philippine government to protect its citizens who, in the absence of better opportunities in the country, venture to seek employment abroad despite immense difficulties,” is to be blamed for the situation of OFWs citing the case of Mary Jane Veloso.
Veloso is an OFW from Nueva Ecija who was supposed to work as a domestic help in Indonesia. She has been imprisoned in Indonesia since May 2010 after 2.6 kilos of heroin amounting to US$500,000 was discovered hidden in her baggage at the Yogyakarta Airport.
Migrante International said Veloso is the eighth OFW put on death row under Aquino administration. “Seven have already been executed before her, earning for the Aquino regime the stature of having the most number of OFW executions since the Philippine Labor Export Policy was hatched in 1970,” Palabay said in a statement Friday.
There are at least 125 more OFWs on death row in other countries where capital punishment is also imposed.
Karapatan said they are appealing for justice and clemency for Veloso.
