MANILA, Philippines – After getting flak online, Celia Veloso, the mother of death row convict Mary Jane Veloso, clarified on Friday, April 28, that she does not support the death penalty.

“Ako po ay humihingi ng paumanhin sa kalituhan. Ako po ay hindi sumusuporta sa death penalty,” Veloso said in a video message sent by Migrante International. (I apologize for the confusion. I do not support the death penalty.)

An ABS-CBN News report on Tuesday, April 26, quoted Veloso saying that she favors the reimposition of death penalty in the Philippines. 

“Oo, sang-ayon ako, kasi tama naman ang ginagawa niya eh. Napakaraming taong napapariwara nang dahil sa ganoon,” she said in the report. “Siguro kung sa tingin ng iba eh mali, para sa akin okay lang, dahil marami kasing walang hiyang tao talaga.”

(Yes, I agree, because what he’s doing is right. Many people lose their way because of drugs. Maybe others think he’s wrong, but for me, it’s okay because there are many shameless people.)

Netizens were quick to react to the news, criticizing her stand despite her own daughter being on death row in Indonesia, a case that shook the country in 2015.

In her clarification, however, Veloso said that she supports President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.

“Sumusuporta ako sa ating mahal na pangulo na mawala ang ilegal na droga…. Ang dapat habulin nila ay mga sindikato na bumibiktima ng mga mahihirap at inosenteng katulad ni Mary Jane Veloso,” she said.

(I support the President’s fight against illegal drugs…. The ones they should go after are the syndicates who victimize the poor and innocent like Mary Jane Veloso.)

Watch her full statement here: 

Mary Jane Veloso was meted the death penalty in Indonesia for smuggling drugs. She claims to be a victim a human trafficking. 

Veloso was given a last-minute reprieve by the Indonesian government on April 29, 2015, after the Philippine government said that her testimony would be needed in the case against her alleged illegal recruiters. – Rappler.com