A Reprieve for Mary Jane

We have won a reprieve for our Mary Jane. Let's make it count.

Kudos to our President BSAIII and his Indonesian counterpart, President Joko Widodo, to our DOJ, DFA and its Indonesian counterparts, to civil society from both our nations, and to the God of all nations.

Everything led to everything in the right way because of everybody who cared and prayed and labored to bring about this opportunity... the important thing now is to make it count.

Let us keep in mind there is still work to be done to obtain for Mary Jane that hoped for commutation of sentence. Other things may happen from there. But we have to get there first.

We have to continue to watch and pray and help in our own ways.

Let us also pray for the eternal repose of those eight who were executed early Wednesday morning. Let us remember their grieving relatives... and let us be humbled.

But for the grace of God go we, my brothers and sisters... Let's give thanks and make it count...

Salamat po sa Diyos at salamat sa ating laht!
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Update 20150505tue: My thoughts still return to the 8 who were executed Wednesday morning last week. Let us please pray for their souls. Learning about the stories of some of the ones besides our Mary Jane was as hard as it was sobering. I think a few more should have been spared. 

There really is no right way of killing a person.

Even through human institution, taking a human life is always an evil. Perhaps an evil weighed against a greater evil but an evil still... There truly is nothing good about it. If not for the safety it stands to gain for the community, capital punishment would have been an outright sin.

Perhaps capital punishment has lived out its usefulness in our days, perhaps not. One thing is for sure though, a person once dead can not be wished back to life again.

A prayer for Mary Jane and her companions

Heavenly Father, please do not forsake Mary Jane Veloso and her companions in their hour of need. As in Gethsemane You sent Your Holy Angel to comfort Your Son before His Passion, be there for them in their anguish also. Hear their prayers.

Comfort them. Comfort their families. Give them gentle counsel, O most merciful God. The forgiveness of their sins. Give them strength and courage to believe in the grace of Thy deliverance.

For Thou art God, able to produce good from any evil, and make the wild flowers grow from fields barren and accustomed to death; Who forsakes not and produces in each of us despite ourselves, the fruits of Thy ultimate and everlasting purposes, we shall pray to Thee and thank Thee for our prayers.

If today, O good and gracious LORD, Thou willed to receive them, deliver them swiftly. If today, dearest God, Thou willed to allow them to remain living here on earth with us, deliver them swiftly.

Let Thy will be done.

Amen.
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Personal Reflection:

I am fully convinced now that Mary Jane Veloso is a victim of circumstance.

A concatenation of adverse events to which she had little to no power to reverse has her now in thrall. My hope is that sharper minds and nobler hearts can unravel the truth before it's too late.

Hope still remains that Mary Jane will not be executed... Whatever happens though - we must move to make things better over here so as not to multiply victims like Mary Jane.

20150427mon: Whether we believe in the death penalty or not, as a Country, we have an obligation to ourselves as citizens to see to it that our rights to both life and liberty receive adequate legal protection - here or anywhere in the world.

The dignity of the human person in every Filipino citizen and the prestige of the entire Philippine State are goods reciprocal: To recognize one is to recognize the other, to respect one is to respect the other.

If one believes this as I do, one should likewise realize how we contradict ourselves whenever we choose to protect one and not the other. Both bases must be covered.

We can not dictate policy for other States but we can certainly accommodate for better here at home... Some improvements will be structural to the Republic and will be gradual but the most immediate ones I can suggest are these:

Screening for high-risk OFWs - criteria to be based on Country of destination, age, gender, level of education, average overseas experience and any adverse social conditions relevant and applicable.

The screening itself will either be in questionnaire form or through an interview. This will be done before the departure date and a clearance will be required by customs at the airport.

Voluntary for all Filipinos travelling overseas - either as OFWs or tourists. Mandatory for those who are travelling to particular Countries identified in the criteria.

Set up a Citizens Defense Fund. This fund is to be drawn from sources of income already being drawn by the State - sourcing it from relevant centers of revenue - and must not be passed on to the backs of those particular class of citizens it is intended to protect - to protect the prestige of the State.

The CDF will provide the financial capacity to sustain and carry out programs and information initiatives meant to shield and empower professions identified as vulnerable or high risk - OFWs and Journalists are two that I would like identified. This until such a time as statistics change and those categories have entered levels of risk considered to be nominal or other categories have been identified and included.

As these ideas are still in their formative stages... certainly, they can be improved on in due time.

On Lifting the Moratorium on Capital Punishment in this Republic

I am not against the death penalty. I am against the death penalty being abused. 

I believe there are times when the imposition of capital punishment becomes necessary in the ordinary pursuit of justice so that the severity of the punishment meets the malice and gravity of the crime.

I also believe the guilt of executing one innocent person can not be wiped away by executing ten more who are guilty.

In all criminal cases, this guilt takes on the character of community so my opinion is this: We, the people, should try and ponder on this more carefully. For the question is not an easy one:

Were the Republic to lift the moratorium on capital punishment, is our justice system ready?

There are five pillars to this justice system.

All five pillars form one synergistic whole. But the center-most pillar in my view is the people. 

Our national communities being one of these pillars - are we, the people, ready? 

The other four pillars of our justice system are as follows: (1) our courts system, (2) our police service, (3) our state's attorneys, and (4) our state reformatory system.

All of them draw their necessary virtues from the character of our peoplehood.

Let us look at how we judge and accuse each other everyday - how rash and how harsh we can get... How many or how few the times do we choose to actively preserve each other's honor and recognize each other's dignity as something of equal and precious value.

Let us look at in-built social prejudices: The provincialisms and other chauvinist excesses that linger on within our selves. For these things - were we to serve the ideals of the justice we, the people, commonly desire - must all be considered carefully.

Let us work to rid ourselves of these... As for my own part, I continue to actively work to remove these harmful preconceived notions from myself as well.

Also, look at how some people here, her own compatriots - react to the case of Mary Jane Veloso. I have a lot of admiration for Mary Jane. For her detractors here in our own Country - so very little. They react like they don't think. Like they worship law. 

For these are safeguards against abuse of the law. Indeed, a good and well-regulated populace is better than any law. Good judgment naturally supports a sound justice.

We should be citizens first in this Republic after all and politicians last. Are we?

In any case, the fact that there is a moratorium on capital punishment means that the death penalty is not off the table and it never was.
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Happy Sunday

Let us give thanks... rest, refresh, renew.

Let us pray for peace in our Country, in our region, in the Middle East, across Asia, in Europe, in Africa, in the Americas, in Australia and across Oceania. Let us pray also for Mary Jane Veloso and those who are in prison with her.

Let us pray for Persecuted Christians and all human beings who suffer unjustly for their faith.

Let us pray for more good will in the world, between nations and between human persons; more acts of kindness, more appreciation for the blessings of life, liberty, and Country; and more trust in the infinite goodness and Providential grace of God among all peoples of the earth.

Yes, let us be strong in diversity. united in adversity, and steadfast in hope!

Things change. It does not rain everyday. Behind gray skies, above the storm clouds, beyond reach of the tempest... perennial blue skies endure in golden days embraced by the sun.

Tomorrow could be worse, but let it not be today.
Today we will decide to act to make things better.

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The Plight of Mary Jane Veloso

Mary Jane Veloso, a citizen of ours, is currently in death row in Indonesia. 

She along with nine others of different nationalities (Australia, Nigeria, Brazil, France, Ghana, Indonesia) were convicted of narcotics trafficking. All ten are sentenced to be executed by firing squad soon.

A recent news report about the plight of Mrs. Veloso revealed to a concerned nation that she and her family were clearly from among the poor of our Country. Truly, it feels so wrong for her family to have to be pained in this way... the circumstances surrounding her current plight begs further reflection. 

Therefore, I should also like to express my view as regards the death penalty and in particular the plight of my fellow Filipino, Mary Jane Veloso.

Consider that Mrs. Veloso herself is not an addict. That her own experience on drugs and the trafficking of drugs would be limited. Certainly as a mother and a wife, her life choices based on their present state of life were itself also limited.

What motive did she have if the act was intentional? It is highly probable Mrs. Veloso herself might not have fully apprehended the seriousness of the matter in the first place.

If it were unintentional, imagine the malice of those who exploited her in her poverty. It is a spit in the face of the poor to have to be given over to an evil fate such as that of Mrs' Veloso's.

Everything about it seems a consequence of a choice she didn't have to make but was imposed upon her will either knowingly or unknowingly by the criminality of those who would exploit her by manipulating her hopes.

I truly believe making an example of victims only perpetuates the cycle of victimization by emboldening those who would knowingly and willfully exploit human hope for devious purposes, especially of the poor who are very vulnerable.

What the law prescribes and what justice demands at times require our human discernment. As our own Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago famously said, "not all that is legal is moral".

I have recently read a Time magazine (issue 20141027) article on President Joko Widodo of Indonesia. It gave me the impression that he himself must know all too clearly the evils of poverty.

Here in my own Country, I am opposed to capital punishment. 

I am for a swift and efficient justice system. I am for a justice system that delivers faithfully its duty to my Republic, serving with neither fear nor favor. Loves what the people love, that maketh them good, that preserve them in the good, and sustains them in the life of our national communities.

There is a kind of justice that harms, you see. That which seems aloof, mistakes vengeance for duty, and interprets fear and punishment as the basis of law. It rules over more than serves with. 

I have become wary of this kind of justice. I believe it false. For it appears strange to me that the people should fear justice, is confounded by its presence.

Is not virtue a friend and ally of the human good?

I oppose capital punishment because capital punishment in the hands of a justice system such as the one I have described above seems to make more burdensome that spirit of human oppression justice should serve to alleviate among the people, with the people, most especially in the least of the people
for the sake of its own virtue.

I am not arguing to exonerate the guilt of those convicted, I am making a statement that I firmly believe that those ten convicted do not deserve death but the chance to make proper amends... to change the change they owe society and themselves. 

It is said that the cry of the poor may not always be just but if we do not listen to them, we will never know what justice is. In the case of Mary Jane Veloso, it might profit those who are concerned to listen:

She in particular, I firmly believe do not deserve to die for desiring a better life for herself and her family. 

---<--@

20150417fri 2058h: Sent the letter below through President Widodo's Facebook profile. We continue to pray and watch.

Dear President Widodo,

I am writing to implore your Excellency to grant clemency to Mary Jane Veloso.

I heard from a recent news report she herself is already reconciled to her fate. Though she maintains her innocence to the degree her motives were not malicious but sprang out of her vulnerabilities and the evil intention of others, as with most poor people in my Country, she might feel powerless to resist such an evil fate.

She might undoubtedly fail to protest the severity of her sentence in the same way she failed to duly protect her own rights to due process at the onset of her trial and incarceration. My government have reportedly exhausted most avenues to effect justice for Mary Jane. But sir, many people including myself still hope for a fair conclusion to her ordeal.

I am of the opinion that executing her will not serve to deter such crimes as the one she has been charged of committing. In fact, it might even embolden those who exploit the vulnerabilities of poor people in my Country; those who by their cunning and malice would betray decent folk to an evil fate. This has happened before, your Excellency, in the PRC.

Mary Jane Veloso's family are presently in Manila seeking avenues of reprieve for their kin and I should like to join with them in petitioning your executive grant of clemency.

I am not asking to exonerate guilt. I respect the larger view of the justice that you are sworn to uphold. Her personal ignorance might not be enough to save her from the sanction of your law. But please, President Widodo, consider also her lack of evil intention and humble submissiveness to your justice system and grant our sister Filipino a commuted sentence. She is a decent woman and I am sure she has more good to give to herself, her family, and to human society in general were she allowed the chance.

It would most certainly be greatly accepted by a great many over here in my Country were you to act in behalf of our cumulative efforts to save our Mary Jane. I myself have a lot of praise for your person and your people as a moderate and democratic nation.

May your Republic prosper greatly under your watch. God bless you and the Indonesian people, sir.

To your consideration I humbly submit my petition.

Very sincerely yours,

Eric John San Miguel
concerned citizen