Human rights alliance KARAPATAN welcomed the release of Mary Jane Veloso, and called for the release of others who have been unjustly detained, including political prisoners facing fabricated or politically motivated charges.
“We welcome the release of Mary Jane Veloso following the government’s grant of an absolute pardon. Mary Jane has already lost more than 16 years of her life to imprisonment and separation from her family. She must now be allowed to go home and rebuild her life with her family, after being detained in another country and then in her own,” said Sol Taule, deputy secretary general of KARAPATAN.
KARAPATAN said Veloso’s release is also a victory of collective action by migrant workers, human rights defenders, and advocates who have consistently fought for her rights and for the protection of Filipino migrant workers.
“Mary Jane’s freedom is a victory of the collective action of the people who have fought for the rights of migrant workers. There should never have been a Mary Jane Veloso who had to go through this kind of ordeal in the first place,” Taule said.
“No Filipino should be forced to leave the country and risk exploitation, trafficking, and other forms of abuse simply because there are not enough decent jobs and opportunities at home,” she added.
Taule criticized the government’s continuing labor export policy, which was institutionalized under the administration of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. in the 1970s and maintained by successive administrations, including the present Marcos Jr. administration.
“The government’s labor export policy, which began under Marcos Sr. and continues to this day, has made Filipino workers bear the burden of a system that sends people away from their families instead of creating sufficient decent and secure jobs in the Philippines,” Taule said.
“We should build a society where Filipinos do not have to leave their families behind just to survive, and where no one becomes vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation because of the desperate search for work. There should be no more Mary Janes,” she added.
KARAPATAN stressed, however, that the injustice experienced by Veloso is shared by many others who remain behind bars, including political prisoners who have spent years in detention over charges arising from the exercise of their rights and freedoms.
“Mary Jane is not the only person who has suffered years of unjust imprisonment. Across the Philippines, political prisoners remain behind bars because of trumped-up, fabricated, or politically motivated charges,” Taule said.
She said this is an opportunity to demand that the government release other prisoners who have been deprived of their liberty through fabricated charges, questionable evidence, or the criminalization of legitimate political activity.
“The injustice suffered by Mary Jane is suffered by many persons deprived of liberty who likewise spend years away from their families. The trumped-up cases against them, coupled with the slow wheels of justice, make them languish even longer in detention,” Taule said.
“Mary Jane’s freedom should be a beginning of the end of injustice against the unjustly detained, including political prisoners. Their continued imprisonment is a reflection of how deeply our society has suffered from injustice,” Taule ended.