THE camp of death row convict Mary Jane Veloso on Monday sought refuge before the Supreme Court by filing a petition seeking to allow the taking of her deposition in Indonesia to bolster the criminal cases that were filed against her alleged illegal recruiters.
In a 37-page petition, Veloso, through lawyers from the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL), sought the lifting of the permanent injunction issued by the Court of Appeals (CA) on December 13, 2017, that it affirmed in a resolution issued on June 5, 2018.
The CA, in the two rulings, reversed and set aside the order issued by Branch 88 of the Regional Trial Court of Baloc, Santo Domingo, Nueva Ecija, on August 16, 2016, giving the camp of Veloso the go-ahead to take her deposition in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The CA sided with the arguments raised by Veloso’s recruiters Cristina Sergio and Julius Lacanilao that allowing the Philippine Embassy in Indonesia to get her deposition would violate their right to confront the witness face to face and to have compulsory process to secure the attendance of witnesses and the production of evidence—matters guaranteed under Section 14, Paragraph 1 of the 1987 Constitution.
Sergo and Lacanilao are being tried for qualified human trafficking, estafa and simple illegal recruitment before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Baloc, Santo Domingo, Nueva Ecija, in connection with Veloso’s case.
They are accused of duping Veloso into bringing heroin to Indonesia, resulting in her arrest and conviction. She was lined up for execution in April 29, 2016, but was spared in a dramatic last-minute grant of reprieve by Indonesian President Joko Widodo on the urgent appeal of then-President Benigno S. Aquino III. His government explained that her testimony is vital in the case she has filed against her recruiters.
The Indonesian government wants her cooperation in prosecuting the international drug trafficking ring behind her case; hence, her lawyers’ need to be allowed to depose her in Indonesia.
Veloso’s camp has insisted that the deposition would boost her defense in the drug-trafficking conviction in Indonesia, and thus, sought the reversal of the CA’s decision.
They are asking the SC to issue a status quo ante order directing the Nueva Ecija RTC to desist from conducting further proceedings in the case pending the final resolution of their petition.
“The assailed Court of Appeals decision and resolution, which are the subject of the main petition filed by the People before this Honorable Court denying Mary Jane’s plea to be allowed to testify through deposition is—literally and without an iota of exaggeration—a matter of life and death,” NUPL Secretary-General Edre Olalia said, in seeking an immediate resolution on the case.
Olalia insisted that the CA gravely abused its discretion in giving due course to Sergio and Lacanilao’s petition seeking the reversal of the trial court’s order and in the subsequent issuance of the permanent injunction against the taking of Veloso’s deposition.
The CA, according to Olalia, should have dismissed outright Sergio and Lacanilao’s petition due to their failure to show that the trial court committed grave abuse of discretion in allowing Veloso to testify through deposition.
“In the instant case, there is not even a hint that the Honorable Trial Judge gravely abused its discretion in rendering the assailed resolutions,” he pointed out.
Furthermore, the NUPL lawyer accused the CA of issuing the permanent injunction against Veloso’s testimony without basis both in fact and in law.
Olalia said the permanent injunction violates Veloso’s right to due process and fair trial.
“To bar Mary Jane from testifying will prevent the prosecution from fully presenting their case by means of crucial material evidence, thereby denying the victim of her opportunity to finally be heard. This strikes at the very core of the due process guarantee of the Constitution and puts premium on technicality at the expense of the right of the State to prosecute criminal wrongdoing,” he added.
She has been detained since 2010 after she was apprehended by Indonesian authorities at the Yogyakarta airport for bringing in more than 2 kilograms of heroin. Veloso insisted that she had no idea the luggage given her by her recruiters contained heroin, which was found in a hidden compartment sewn into the luggage.