“I sincerely pray to to be saved from the death penalty and to be given the opportunity to bring up my children.”
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Mary Jane Veloso has personally appealed to Indonesian President Joko Widodo to spare her from execution.
“I sincerely appeal to you, Honorable Sir, to grant me pardon from the death penalty. I believe and am certain that you have a compassionate heart and are very wise to make a humane decision,” Veloso said.
The handwritten appeal, which was in Bahasa, was translated to English by University of the Philippines professor Ramon Guillermo. She wrote the appeal last Apr. 15 at the Wirogunan Correctional Facility in Yogyakarta.
Veloso said her two children need her.
“Honorable Sir, I believe that as the father of your child, you can feel what it would be like if your child were in the position of my own children, it is surely very painful because it would take away the right of my children to be with their mother, if my plea for pardon is not granted,” she said.
She added that as “Father of the Indonesian Nation,” Widodo should protect the people.
In the wee hours of Apr. 25, Veloso’s family received the order of execution. But the Filipino pro bono lawyers retained by the Veloso family clarified in a previous Bulatlat.com report that no fix date has been set and that the mandatory 72-hour notice has yet to be given to the family, lawyers and Philippine embassy officials.
Veloso was apprehended in Indonesia back in 2010 for allegedly carrying 2.6 kilograms of heroin, stitched inside the luggage that her recruiter lent her. 
