Panayam kay DOJ Usec. Raul Vasquez kaugnay ng usapin sa kaso ng recruiter ni Mary Jane Veloso at update sa war on drugs ng dating administrasyon

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Panayam kay DOJ Usec. Raul Vasquez kaugnay ng usapin sa kaso ng recruiter ni Mary Jane Veloso at update sa war on drugs ng dating administrasyon  For more news, visit:  ►https://www.ptvnews.ph/  Subscribe to our DailyMotion Channel: ►http://www.dailymotion.com/peoples-television-incorporated  Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ►http://www.youtube.com/ptvphilippines  Like our Facebook pages: ►PTV: http://facebook.com/PTVph  ►Rise and Shine Pilipinas: https://www.facebook.com/riseandshinepilipinas  Follow us on Twitter:  ►http://twitter.com/PTVph  Follow us on Instagram: ►https://www.instagram.com/ptvph  Watch our livestream on:  ►http://ptvnews.ph/livestream/ ►https://www.dailymotion.com/PTVPhilippines  Watch our News Programs, every Mondays to Fridays  Rise and Shine Pilipinas - 6:00 - 8:00 am Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon - 12:00 - 1:00 pm Sentro Balita - 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm Ulat Bayan - 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm PTV News Tonight -  9:30 pm - 10:30 pm  Saturday & Sunday: ►Ulat Bayan Weekend - 6:15 pm - 7:00 pm

Transcript

00:00Let's talk about the case of Mary Jane Veloso's recruiter and an update on the investigation of the war on drugs of the former administration.

00:08We will discuss this with the Department of Justice Undersecretary Raul Vazquez.

00:14Usec Vazquez, good afternoon.

00:18Good afternoon, Nina, and good afternoon, Director Nicolette.

00:21Good afternoon to our viewers.

00:25Usec, regarding the case of Mary Jane's illegal recruiter here in the Philippines, what is our update on this?

00:35Actually, they have already been sentenced to life imprisonment for their illegal recruitment case.

00:43But the pending case is regarding the trafficking of persons and their STAFA case that has been brought to the court now.

00:59Alright, what will be the development on the case of the recruiter if Mary Jane Veloso will return to the country?

01:09That is a good development, Nina, because in our process of hearing the cases,

01:22there needs to be a confrontation between the witnesses and the accused, and the right to cross-examine.

01:31So, that became a problem because Mary Jane Veloso was imprisoned in another country, Indonesia.

01:39So, it became so difficult to arrange her transfer here and for her to testify.

01:46With the intended transfer of Mary Jane to the Philippines, it would facilitate the presentation of witnesses, including herself,

02:01so that the prosecution of the pending cases in the court can be completed.

02:10Yusef, has the government already talked to Mary Jane Veloso and her family about the development of her case?

02:20That is ongoing, Director Nicoleta, because our DFA is focused on that even though the development has not yet been released.

02:35The request for the transfer of Mary Jane has been an issue for a long time.

02:41I think easily, it was only 10 years ago.

02:45That is a very good development.

02:48Christmas is early, so we can facilitate it before Christmas,

02:54so that Mary Jane's custody can be transferred to us so that she can serve her sentence here.

03:03The conversation with them, if you will, is regular and our government is ready to consult with Mary Jane's family about that.

03:18Because there are pending cases, and even then, the consultation of the two groups, their parties, their families, is ongoing.

03:30In fact, if I remember right, Mary Jane's family brought her to Indonesia before,

03:36so that she can apologize to the Indonesian authorities and ask them to bring Mary Jane back here or forgive her.

03:49But the development now is that the transfer of Mary Jane is being negotiated now between DFA and the Indonesian government.

04:03We have a question here from our media partner, Sandra Aguinaldo of GMA News.

04:10What will be the legal process to finalize the transfer of Mary Jane Veloso to the Philippines under the Transfer of Sentenced Persons Agreement?

04:21Actually, there is no treaty between Indonesia and the Philippines with respect to the transfer of sentenced persons.

04:33That is a treaty that we have with Spain and the UK with respect to their citizens.

04:42If there is a transfer of citizens who are sentenced here and they will be brought to their country of nationality or citizenship to serve their sentence there,

04:56that is a pre-normal gate of our courts, that is in accordance with the treaty.

05:03Here in our country, between Indonesia and the Philippines, there is no treaty.

05:11The only basis of this is an agreement between the two sovereign states based on international comity and courtesy.

05:20So, all of these conditions are in accordance with the agreement of the two countries.

05:28That will be the basis.

05:31Okay, we have a question from GMA and ABS-CBN News Desk.

05:35Mary Jane's family is worried about her return to safety.

05:41They are worried about where they will be threatened from the syndicate that was a victim to her before.

05:47How can we ensure her safety if she is detained here in the Philippines?

05:55Well, that is an aspect that will be handled by our Bureau of Corrections.

06:04At that point, we will order the Bureau of Corrections under Director General Greg Katapang

06:13to take care of the whole and give security to everything.

06:21Because there are a lot of persons, let's just say, who die from persons deprived of their liberty.

06:35That is one thing that we need to take care of because surely,

06:41all eyes are on, not only our countrymen, but also the international community,

06:48particularly Indonesia, about this matter.

06:52It is our right and obligation to know who are the masterminds of this,

06:59who are the perpetrators of this.

07:01The rule of law should be upheld and we should not think that

07:06those dangers are just an incidental risk that we have to accept as a government,

07:14as a country, if only for us to save our aggrieved, I think, citizen, Mary Jane Beloso,

07:28so that she can be saved from a death sentence given to her by the Indonesian government.

07:38What about the possibility of clemency or pardon?

07:42Do you see something like this in her future?

07:46If she ever comes back here, what will be the sentence?

07:49How long will she be in prison?

07:53Here's the thing, Nina.

07:55Remember that her sentence is death.

07:59She is already awaiting her execution, the imposition of the death penalty upon her.

08:07Now, with the agreement between Indonesia and the Philippines

08:12for her transfer here to the Philippines,

08:16effectively, the Indonesian government agreed to lower or commute

08:21her sentence from death penalty to life imprisonment.

08:52Death sentence.

08:53Therefore, her maximum penalty here is life imprisonment or reclusion perpetua to our lawyers.

09:04This means that she will be in prison for the rest of her life.

09:10But since she is already here, she is subject to our Philippine laws on the treatment

09:21as well as the processing of prisoners.

09:24So, all of this can be seen now that she can be subject to the executive clemency of our President

09:34because she is already here in the Philippines.

09:37That's the only thing we need to follow or face.

09:43We need to respect the judgment made by the Indonesian courts against her

09:53that she is really guilty.

09:59We cannot ignore that.

10:02When it comes to this, automatically, we need to pardon her or executive clemency

10:08because it will be a backstabbing in Indonesia because this is a humanitarian gesture.

10:18It would not be good if we wouldn't...

10:21In optics, in international relations, her and Director Nicolet,

10:27it is very bad for us, our fellow member states of the United Nations

10:35if we turn our agreement, our obligations under an agreement of this nature.

10:43This is what we call a sui generis.

10:47This is an exceptional circumstance because there is no treaty, no treaty

10:54but we were given by Indonesia because of the deep and broad relationship between the Philippines and Indonesia.

11:02Okay. Yusek, in other talks, we also asked for an update on the investigation of the war on drugs of the former administration.

11:09Where are we in this discussion?

11:13You know and we know that the Department of Justice created a task force

11:22led by our Secretary, Remulia,

11:27whose duty is to investigate, to investigate, to study, to have a case built up

11:35on all cases of extrajudicial killing during the war on drugs.

11:42Whether it's big or small, whoever the parties are, who are the responsible parties.

11:50That task force was given 60 days to provide an update

12:00so that we can know what can be followed,

12:06what can be investigated and what cases can be,

12:12or if it's ripe, so that we can proceed with the preliminary investigation

12:18before the prosecution service of the Department of Justice.

12:22This task force was given the right and mandate to ask for help

12:32to get the support of the National Bureau of Investigation,

12:37which is the law enforcement arm of the Department of Justice,

12:41so that the investigation, case build-up, and eventually the prosecution of EJ case under the war on drugs can be carried out.

12:51Particularly also, they will coordinate with the Quadcom of the Congress,

12:59the Senate Investigation, the Commission on Human Rights,

13:04the Philippine National Police, and other law enforcement agencies

13:09so that all the information, details, and results of their investigations,

13:18the agencies will know to follow and see if there is support and evidence.

13:28If they see that there is evidence,

13:33there will be a case filed in our prosecution service.

13:42Thank you very much for your time, DOJ Undersecretary Raul Vasquez.

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