Statement
Migrante Canada |June 18, 2026
MARY JANE VELOSO WILL BE FREE!
Many people thought that Filipina migrant worker Mary Jane Veloso was freed after she was spared from execution in Indonesia. Not true. Many people thought she was finally released from prison when she was flown back to the Philippines from Indonesia. Not true, either.
This year marks the 16th year, and counting, since Mary Jane was arrested and imprisoned in Indonesia in 2010 on drug trafficking charges, sent to death row in 2015, sentenced to die by firing squad but spared with a last-minute reprieve, flown to the Philippines in 2024 only to be kept behind bars at the Correctional Institute for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong where she is still detained. This is the truth.
Migrante Canada, the alliance of Filipino migrant organizations in Canada, and a member of Migrate International, continues to support the campaign to Free Mary Jane. We stand united with Mary Jane and her fight for clemency and immediate release.
On Friday, June 19, the Philippine court in Nueva Ecija will hear Mary Jane’s testimony for the first time since she was arrested 16 years ago.
Mary Jane is the last state witness in the case against her recruiters Kristina Sergio and Julio Lacanilao. Instead of appearing in person at the Regional Trial Court in Nueva Ecija, Mary Jane will testify from the Women’s Correctional (CIW). This gives Mary Jane the space to speak truth to power, hold her traffickers accountable, and secure her long-denied freedom that the Philippine government has seemingly ignored.
In interviews and statements made by Edre Olalia, lead counsel of Mary Jane and a member of the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL), Olalia reiterated that President Marcos, Jr take “the principled position”, i.e., exercise his absolute prerogative as President to pardon Mary Jane and set her free. This presidential prerogative is his alone, not based on legal grounds, not based on any study or expert opinion, but on humanitarian considerations. This statement by Veloso’s legal team bears repeating: “Indonesia has explicitly said repeatedly that it is now our (Philippines) call if we give her clemency and that they will respect that decision to do so.”
Migrante Canada calls on the Philippine government to do the right thing, genuinely and swiftly demonstrate that it upholds Mary Jane’s right to justice and protection as a victim of human trafficking and grant her clemency and immediate and unconditional release.
Mary Jane is a survivor of human trafficking and has already endured 16 years of imprisonment for a crime she did not commit, accused of a crime of which she herself is the victim. The arrest of the traffickers and illegal recruiters Sergio and Lacanilao in 2020 is “testament to Mary Jane’s story that she was not a drug courier but an unwitting victim of the same illegal recruiters.”
Mary Jane is the face of human and labour trafficking. Mary Jane’s case has captured international attention and support as a powerful example of the vulnerability of migrant workers who leave their homes in search of work, only to become targets of traffickers and illegal recruiters.
From Joanna Concepcion, Chairperson of Migrante International, “For as long as the Philippine government continues its labor export policy, there will be more Mary Janes. The cases of human trafficking and labor exploitation will not go away.”
Mary Jane is also the face of resistance and hope. Concepcion said, “For us, Mary Jane is a symbol and inspiration of hope for many of those who are afraid to stand up for themselves, the many who are scared to speak out and fight for their rights. Mary Jane’s whole family and Mary Jane herself have fought and continue to fight for their rights.”
Ang pamilyang lumalaban. No one can bring back the years taken from Mary Jane and her family. Her two sons have grown up largely without their mother. Her elderly parents have marched on the streets, rallied and picketed wherever they can shout Freedom for Mary Jane, submitted petitions and appeals, made the long trips to visit Mary Jane at the CIW, fought alongside Mary Jane in the campaign to bring her home to the loving embrace of her sons, parents, siblings and the many communities, local and overseas, that have always kept the faith in her innocence and that justice will come.
Eni Lestari, chairperson of the International Migrants Alliance, summed up Mary Jane’s story of arrest and continuing incarceration. “Mary Jane’s life is just like the life of an ordinary migrant. A woman who has to live, to work abroad. I know what it means for her to leave her children. The only crime of Mary Jane is being poor.”
Migrante Canada reiterates that true justice requires addressing the conditions that force millions of Filipinos to seek work abroad under precarious circumstances. As long as poverty, unemployment, and labour export remain government policy, migrant workers will continue to face heightened risks of trafficking, exploitation, and abuse. The struggle for Mary Jane’s freedom is therefore also a struggle for migrant justice.
More than ever, as overseas Filipinos and migrant workers, we need to continue the strong, sustained, and loud international pressure on the Marcos Jr. government – from marches, pickets, noise barrage, artwork, statements, songs and poems, delegations, letters, and other creative forms – to free Mary Jane, expose the plight of migrant workers across the globe, but also highlight the resistance and organizing of migrants against the exploitation and oppression of migrants, and against the Philippine labor export policy.
Mary Jane will be free.
Free Mary Jane Veloso now.
Palayain ang mga migranteng manggagawa!
#FreeMaryJane
See also: Polyeto: Palayain si Mary Jane Veloso
###