The Philippine government denied reports that a second Filipino woman had been sentenced to death for drug smuggling in Indonesia.
Earlier this week, Philippine Ambassador to Indonesia Leehiong Wee said that a Filipina in Semarang, Central Java, was on death row for drug offenses. Wee did not provide more details as he said he had only recently learned about the case, GMA News reported.
However, the Philippine Embassy in Indonesia clarified on Wednesday that the Filipino woman in Semarang was in fact sentenced to life imprisonment seven years ago.
“The Filipino in Semarang was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2011,” the embassy said in a statement. It explained that the embassy has been providing assistance in attempts to have the woman’s sentence reduced to a fixed term.
The only Filipino currently sentenced to death in Indonesia is Mary Jane Veloso, who was arrested in possession of 2.6 kilograms of heroin at Yogyakarta airport in 2010.
The Philippine government is pleading with the Indonesian government to reconsider Veloso’s death penalty; it is hoped that she might receive a lesser sentence if it can be proven in an ongoing Manila court hearing that Veloso was a victim of human trafficking.