Prisoner swap program eyed for detained OFWs

The minority leader in the House of Representatives yesterday proposed to the government a prisoner swap program with other countries, under which jailed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) can serve their sentences in the Philippines instead.

- Delon Porcalla

Rep. Marcelino Libanan cited the case of domestic helper Mary Jane Veloso, who was on death row in Indonesia for nearly 15 years following her conviction by a Jakarta court in 2010 for drug trafficking, and was repatriated in December 2024.

Veloso, who is from Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, has maintained her innocence, saying a recruiter, without her knowledge, had tricked her into carrying a suitcase with drugs.

Now 39 years old, she is currently confined at the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong.