Star Metro - Filipina on Indonesia death row arrives home to 'new life'

Mother of two Mary Jane Veloso landed at daybreak, then was transferred to the local prison following a repatriation deal between the two countries over a decade in the making.

The 39-year-old was arrested and sentenced to death in 2010 after the suitcase she was carrying was found to be lined with 2.6 kilograms (5.7 pounds) of heroin, in a case that sparked uproar in the Philippines.

Veloso wept as she hugged one of her sons and her parents inside the Correctional Institution for Women in Manila, where she is being detained under the terms of a transfer agreement with Indonesia which removed the possibility of her execution.

She flew home without handcuffs alongside Filipino correctional officials on an overnight commercial flight that followed a handover ceremony in Jakarta, marking "the end of a harrowing chapter in Veloso's life", the corrections bureau said in a statement.

"This is a new life for me, and I will have a new beginning in the Philippines," a tearful Veloso said earlier at a Jakarta press conference, adding she wanted to spend Christmas with her family.

"I have to go home because I have a family there, I have my children waiting for me."

Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo thanked Jakarta "for this humanitarian action", adding in a statement: "Their generosity has made this momentous day of Ms. Veloso's return to the Philippines, possible."

Under the handover agreement, Veloso's sentence now falls under the Philippines' purview, "including the authority to grant clemency, remission, amnesty and similar measures".

Indonesia's government has said it will respect any decision made by Manila.

Philippine officials have said their ultimate objective is to win Veloso a pardon from President Ferdinand Marcos, though his government has been mum on if and when that would be granted.

After her scheduled 2015 execution by firing squad was stayed at the last minute, Veloso became a poster child for her country's 10 million-strong economic diaspora, many of whom take jobs as domestic workers abroad to escape poverty at home.

Marcos said Veloso's tale resonated in the Philippines, as "a mother trapped by the grip of poverty, who made one desperate choice that altered the course of her life."

The reprieve was granted after a woman suspected of recruiting her was arrested and put on trial for human trafficking and Veloso was named a prosecution witness.

"I am very happy today, but to be honest I am a little sad, because Indonesia has been my second family," Veloso said before singing the Indonesian national anthem.

"I hope you will all pray for me. I have to be strong."

Veloso thanked the leaders of both countries before making a heart sign with her hands and shouting "I love Indonesia!"

The handover was attended by Indonesian immigration and corrections staff and representatives from the Philippine embassy in Jakarta and corrections officials from Manila.

Veloso's travel document was stamped with a deportation mark and she will be banned from re-entering the country, according to Indonesian officials.

- 'Miracle' -

In her first interview since the repatriation agreement, Veloso told AFP on Friday that her release was a "miracle".

Showing off her traditional Indonesian batik creations in prison, she said she had also learned guitar and how to play volleyball.

"I bring a lot of things, such as guitar, books, knittings... even this T-shirt I'm wearing was given by my friends," she said on Tuesday when leaving a Jakarta prison for the airport.

Muslim-majority Indonesia has some of the world's toughest drug laws and has executed foreigners in the past.

At least 530 people were on death row in the Southeast Asian nation, mostly for drug-related crimes, according to data from rights group KontraS, citing official figures.

According to Indonesia's Ministry of Immigration and Corrections, 96 foreigners were on death row, all on drug charges, as of early November.

Indonesia last week transferred home the five remaining members of Australia's "Bali Nine" and is in talks with France over the release of Serge Atlaoui, who has been jailed in the Southeast Asian archipelago since his 2005 arrest.

President Prabowo Subianto had agreed to fulfil their requests to hand back some prisoners sentenced on drug charges.

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K.Morrison--SMC