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This April 28, the Indonesian government led by President Joko Widodo has committed to kill overseas Filipino worker Mary Jane Veloso. This despite the frantic last-minute campaign to plead for her clemency, from the various people’s organizations and personalities in the Philippines to Indonesian groups and celebrities to migrant rights activists and groups in different countries to international leaders like United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, East Timorese (and former victim of Indonesian repression) and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jorge Ramos-Horta, Tony-award winning writer and activist Eve Ensler, and many others. Even Filipino congressman and boxing hero Manny Pacquiao, upon appeals by Mary Jane’s mother, joined in appealing to Widodo.

Mary Jane’s legal team from the Philippines, led by human rights lawyers Edre Olalia and Minerva Lopez, flew to Jakarta with most of Mary Jane’s family members to exhaust all legal avenues to save her. Meanwhile, supporters have camped out in front of the Indonesian embassy in Makati City, Philippines to put added pressure on the Widodo government, braving police harassment and intimidation. Progressive groups and different sectors have likewise launched their own vigils in different parts of the country. They are determined to save Mary Jane, and pray that she not meet the fate of Flor Contemplacion, who was executed in Singapore despite a popular clamor for her clemency, 20 years ago. As with Flor’s case, Mary Jane had complained that the Philippine government did not provide ample legal help for the past five years of her imprisonment in Indonesia.

Follow Pinoy Weekly’s updates on the campaign to #SaveMaryJaneVeloso, on Twitter, Facebook and in this page.