The Brutal Exploitation and Neglect of Filipino Migrant Workers: The Story of Mary Jane Veloso

CW: Mention of Sexual Assault

Photo: Gabriela Philippines. Written by Dimple Paz, Edited by Jovie Galit.

This year’s International Day of Migrants on December 18 will be both a commemoration and a celebration in the Philippines. Filipino migrants, their families, and the rest of the Filipino people in the country and the diaspora will commemorate the lives and sacrifices of all migrant Filipinos who were forced to leave the country in search of the proverbial greener pasture yet continue to contribute significantly to the country’s economy. It will also be a celebration as the country looks forward to welcoming Mary Jane Veloso back home.

In 2010, Mary Jane was arrested in Indonesia for carrying illegal drugs in her luggage, which had been placed there by her recruiters without her knowledge. Her execution was imminent in 2015 when her recruiters were arrested amid strong protests and demands from the Filipino public. For 14 years, her family and migrant rights advocates, both in the Philippines and Indonesia, tirelessly petitioned and campaigned for her release, especially after her recruiters were found guilty of large-scale illegal recruitment.

Mary Jane Veloso in 2010. Credit: International Commission of Jurists

Mary Jane’s life in the Philippines reflects that of millions of Filipinos—surviving daily and living in poverty in a land rich in all kinds of resources. Her father barely earns enough as a seasonal farmer in Hacienda Luisita, which is incidentally owned by the family of Noynoy Aquino, who was then the President while Mary Jane’s case was on trial. As the youngest of five siblings, she didn’t finish high school and became a single mother of two at a young age. She left the country in 2009 for a 2-year domestic worker contract in Dubai but unfortunately had to cut her contract short because her employer attempted to rape her.

Exploiting Filipino Migrant Labour

As the country’s economy was barely surviving at that time, with the effects of the Asian economic crisis continuing to constrain the livelihoods of millions, Mary Jane, like the thousands of Filipinos who leave the country every day, applied for work in Malaysia. From Kuala Lumpur, she was trafficked to Indonesia, carrying illegal drugs placed in her bag by her traffickers. That was when her fight for her life began.

Mary Jane’s conviction and imminent execution shattered the façade of economic development being propped up by the Philippine government. The economy was being kept afloat by the billions of pesos extracted from the sweat and blood of overseas Filipino workers. It brought back to life the memory of another OFW, Flor Contemplacion, who was executed in Singapore despite an appeal from the international community. It shook the nation into looking at the situation of migrant workers who have been painted as modern-day heroes but are neglected by the Philippine government.

Flor and Mary Jane’s plight might be decades apart—Flor was executed in 1995—but in between them are 86 Filipino migrants who are on death row in different countries for various criminal offenses ranging from murder to illegal drug-related cases, according to a report by the Associated Press. Among them are 63 males and 23 females. In the same news, a Filipino was recently executed by Saudi Arabian authorities on October 8. His case was kept quiet from the public.

Labor Export's Colonial Legacy

The Philippines’ labor export policy can be traced back to the Spanish colonization era when Filipino shipyard workers manned Acapulco-bound ships at the height of the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade. Some of these Filipinos would jump ship to avoid maltreatment and go on to stay as some of the first Filipino settlers in the Americas and other colonial islands. From then on, an exodus of Filipino workers and professionals alike would leave the country to find jobs in plantations, factories, and as healthcare workers, with nurses among the first to migrate to the USA to work in hospitals.

Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s dictatorial regime during the 1970s further concentrated the country’s wealth in the hands of the few, including the Marcoses and their cronies. The implementation of neoliberal policies drove the people’s lives into deeper crisis, with skyrocketing inflation. To stem the economic crisis battering his reign, Marcos Sr. started actively and systematically promoting overseas work to unemployed young Filipinos. Cheap labor for export opened a new source of income for the Philippine government, as the burgeoning number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) meant a continuous flow of remittances. Today, according to the Department of Migrant Workers, the country deployed about 2.52 million OFWs in 2023, who contributed US$14.89 billion, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

Despite this huge contribution to the economy, OFWs remain unseen and underserved by the Philippine government. Like Mary Jane, who was not provided with immediate legal support when she was arrested, OFWs in distress are neglected or, worse, ignored by Philippine authorities. This is why many OFWs in jail and on death row have been clamoring for the government to provide them with quality support so they can defend themselves legally.

The agreement between the Philippine and Indonesian governments gives hope to other Filipinos on death row. However, as the number of Filipinos forced to leave the country and take risks in foreign lands continues to rise, so does the risk of Filipinos being jailed or persecuted. This is not an impossibility as the economic and political situation in the country continues to worsen.

Act Now: Justice for Mary Jane and all Victims of Labour Exploitation

Dec 18, 2024 Mary Jane Veloso reuniting with her family at the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong, Philippines. Credit: Lisa Marie David/Reuters

Mary Jane’s transfer to a Philippine jail is not the end of her journey to justice and freedom, as migrant rights advocates have launched various petitions and actions to demand clemency and bring her back to her family. This partial victory, after 14 years of struggle for justice, is the fruit of the unrelenting and untiring support from people’s movements all over the world; it galvanized unity and solidarity among the Filipino and Indonesian peoples, who face similar economic crises due to neoliberal economic impositions and attacks on their rights.

As Mary Jane finally comes home, the hope is that the Filipino nation will learn lessons from her experience and journey—that the government realizes that anti-people policies, such as development aggression, environmental destruction, and land-use conversion, will continue to drive people like Mary Jane to leave their families and the country; that the lack of industries to create and provide jobs for Filipinos, coupled with dismal wages, will keep skilled workers and professionals from staying in the country; and that until the government decisively puts into place steps to ensure the delivery of quality and accessible social services, Filipinos will always look to other countries to fulfill their needs.

But for many Filipinos, we have long learned our lessons—there are still many Mary Janes out there, languishing in jails, living and hoping that they will survive long enough to reunite with their families. There will be other Mary Janes, who will risk life and limb to survive in foreign countries. We cannot put our hopes in a government that deliberately ignores the welfare of its people at home and abroad. The biggest lesson is that only through united actions, solidarity, and the unrelenting fight will justice be achieved—for Mary Jane, for her family, and for all migrant Filipinos around the world.

To support the call for clemency for Mary Jane, please sign the petition here.