Finally reunited with her family, Migrante International extends its heartfelt wishes to Dwi Wulandari as she begins her life anew. We are elated that she has finally achieved justice after suffering terribly from her ordeal which started back in 2012 upon her arrest for alleged drug smuggling in the Philippines.
On March 29, the Court of Appeals ruled that she was innocent of all the charges. The original life sentence verdict handed by the Pasay City Regional Trial Court in 2017 was overturned after an appeal on her case was raised with the help of public lawyers. Arrested in September 2012 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Wulandari was charged with smuggling illegal drugs into the Philippines.
Just like Mary Jane Veloso who is still on death row in Indonesia, Wulandari was a victim of big international trafficking syndicates and drug smugglers who have been preying on vulnerable migrants. Many of these trafficking victims embarked overseas to fulfill their dreams of better lives for their loved ones, only to be tricked by vicious traffickers who reverse migrant aspirations into dreadful years of nightmare and torment.
We welcome this recent Court of Appeals (CA) decision to overturn Wulandari’s verdict. How we wish that the appellate court granted the same favor to Mary Jane Veloso when she pleaded for her right to deposition in Indonesia. Since CA barred Mary Jane from testifying against her traffickers, the Veloso family are now fighting for her life in the Supreme Court.
May Wulandari’s case be a strong message to the Supreme Court of the Philippines as we reiterate our call to let Mary Jane Veloso speak the truth so that justice will finally be served. We want all the international human trafficking syndicates and big drug smugglers to pay for their crimes against Mary Jane Veloso and Dwi Wulandari.
Mary Jane’s Supreme Court case has been dragging for months. We fervently hope that Wulandari’s new found freedom will be reciprocated by the Indonesian government with a bestowal of clemency for Mary Jane Veloso so she can be finally relieved from the debilitating years of suffering and incarceration.
As Dwi Wulandari begins her new life in sweet reunion with her family, Migrante likewise longs for the moment when Mary Jane Veloso will finally be granted her freedom and be reunited with her loved ones. Migrante International vows to continue pursuing justice for all OFWs and their families who continue to be afflicted by the Duterte regime’s deadly labour export program and by his stiff refusal to address the roots of forced migration in the Philippines.
