Dear friends of Mary Jane,
On September 26, 2019, 8:30 am, there will be a hearing at the Nueva Ecija Regional Trial Court for the presentation of the last witness for the prosecution in the case of illegal recruitment, human trafficking and estafa cases against the local recruiters of Mary Jane.
The Church Task Force to Save Mary Jane is asking for all those who have been involved in the advocacy to help intensify our campaign to save the life of Mary Jane by asking the Supreme Court of the Philippines to allow Mary Jane to testify against her illegal recruiters (by way of written deposition or another acceptable method) from her death row prison cell. At this time, it appears that written deposition is the only mode permitted by the Indonesian authorities.
We worry that If Mary Jane is not allowed to testify, Indonesian authorities may take this into account in relation to her standing reprieve from death row.
Let us revive the national and international campaign to free Mary Jane so she can return home to her children and family. We ask your help in demonstrating to the Philippine Supreme Court and Philippine Government that there are many organizations and individuals standing withr the Veloso family’s legal battle to attain justice!
Please write a letter to the Philippine Supreme Court from your community organization, church, institution or networks.(TEMPLATE LETTER BELOW and refer to attached legal brief as helpful).
Your letters may be hand-delivered for organizations in Manila. If you are mailing them, please consider using quick mail like LBC, JRS or Federal Express. For those outside the country, you may send them to us at pcprnatl2016@gmail.com and a copy can also be sent to Migrante International chair.migranteintl@gmail.com and Churches Witnessing With Migrants cwwmphils@gmail.com them to be printed and delivered.
You may also choose to have letters hand-delivered by a Church partner here in the Philippines for impact. We would like for many entries at different times and days of people delivery letters to show on the logs of the Supreme Court.
Even if you send your letters direct, we would appreciate receiving a copy, so that we can share them with Mary Jane and her family. Thank you very much for your swift action.
Sincerely yours,
Becca Lawson
Coordinator
Church Task Force to Save the Life of Mary Jane Veloso
lawson.becca@gmail.com
+623-923-352-7476
For people in Manila, please also mark your calendars:
Sept 23, morning Coordinated bringing of some letters to the Supreme Court with media coverage (please also deliver this week, if you are able, better not to wait.)
Sept 24, morning Program outside the Supreme Court En Banc is meeting
Sept 26, all day Trooping the the RTC in Baloc, Sto Domingo, Nueva Ecija, Philippines
Template Letter
(Note: Be free in adjusting your letter. It should sound authentic to you. This template is simply to give you a starting point. Please put the letter on your organizational or personal letterhead)
ATTN: 3RD DIVISION, SUPREME COURT OF THE PHILIPPINES
Padre Faura St., Ermita, Manila
Philippines 1000
Letter of Appeal to grant Mary Jane Veloso to speak the truth
Date:______________
To the Honorable Supreme Court Justices:
Everyday, countless families around the world lose their loved ones to illegal trafficking. Many of these victims only have their immediate kindred, their parents, spouse, siblings or their children whom they can count on to intercede for them in their legal and emotional adversities.
In September 2018, Mary Jane’s parents Celia and Cesar Veloso filed their Petition for Intervention with Urgent Prayer for Status Quo Ante Order to allow them to intervene as private complainants in the criminal cases against Ma. Cristina P. Sergio and Julius Lacanilao for qualified trafficking, illegal recruitment and estafa. As intervenors, Celia and Cesar Veloso are urgently pleading that their daughter Mary Jane be finally allowed to speak the truth through written deposition in Indonesia.
Even before Mary Jane Veloso was granted a reprieve from execution in 2015, we have been consistent in monitoring all the developments related to her case. We affirm our full support to Mary Jane, her children and her family’s continuing legal battle to hold her traffickers accountable and assert the rights of the forgotten and abandoned. We share Mary Jane’s hope that one day she will finally be reunited with her two sons Mark Daniel and Mark Darren.
For all the traumas and sufferrings they have endured, allowing Mary Jane Veloso to speak against her traffickers is the only way forward to attain justice and realize the utmost desire of the Veloso family for reunification. Allowing Mary Jane to speak the truth gives voice to victims of human trafficking and affirms their rights as the one of the most vulnerable and neglected in our society. Giving a place to her parents Cesar and Celia as intervenors in the legal petition grants recognition to the legitimate and immediate stake of families who are lamenting the loss of their loved ones from illegal trafficking.
[INSERT SHORT PARAGRAPH ABOUT WHY YOUR ORGANIZATION BELIEVES IT IS IMPORTANT FOR MARY JANE TO SPEAK, AND CONTINUE TO SUPPORT THE CALL FOR HER FREEDOM]
For the sake of Mary Jane Veloso and all other victims of human trafficking, we are appealing to the Supreme Court to grant Mary Jane the chance to speak the truth and in so doing, save more lives and finally put an end to the scourge of illegal trafficking. We fervently hope that our collective appeal will allow Mary Jane Veloso to regain her dignity win back her freedom. May justice prevail and truth be finally heard.
Respectfully,
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