GENERAL MAMERTO NATIVIDAD, Nueva Ecija — Grilled tilapia and pinakbet (vegetable stew) served with soup and a side of shrimp paste (bagoong) with tomatoes and chili peppers made up the simple homecoming dinner requested by Mary Jane Veloso on Saturday night after over 16 years of waiting, suffering and deep-seated hope.
Veloso returned to her house in Barangay Burol at 5 p.m. after being released from the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City.
Her release came after the absolute pardon granted by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
During the four-hour drive from Manila, Veloso admitted she experienced dizziness and vomiting from sheer exhaustion and excitement.
Welcome tarpaulins put up by relatives, neighbors and local officials led by Mayor Larry Ponce hung from every street corner of Barangay Burol.
After dinner, Veloso went to bed around 9 p.m., according to her 70-year-old father, Cesar Veloso.
“I am so very happy, this is the moment I have been waiting for the most — to be with my family and my children,” she said.
She thanked migrant groups in Indonesia and the continuous support of the Department of Migrant Workers in the country, as well as former 3rd District representative Rosanna “Ria” Vergara, for supporting her family during her ordeal.
Veloso said the hardest part while she was imprisoned was worrying about the hardships faced by her parents, who were forced to borrow money for bus fare just to make the trip to visit her at the CIW.
According to her siblings — Marytess Veloso-Laurente, Lea Veloso-Ordoñez and Christopher Veloso — there was an “outpouring of tears of joy.”
She was also reunited with her sons, Mark Daniel, 23, and Mark Darrel, 19.
The reunion was tinged with sorrow since her former partner, Michael Candelaria, has started a new family in Talavera.
Veloso said that during her early months at the CIW, where she was detained starting in December 2024, she had to sleep on a cardboard box on the floor. Because there were 200 other inmates in the dormitory, she suffered from a skin infection.
Because of her good conduct, she was promoted to “checker officer” and was given her own bed.
The local government, led by Mayor Ponce, has invited the Veloso family to a grand recognition and celebration at the municipal hall on Oct. 5.
On Sunday, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said it was extending continued social protection assistance to Veloso and her family.
The DSWD said its Central Luzon field office handed Veloso P30,000 in case relief assistance. Her parents each received P10,000.
Her two sons would be receiving P10,000 each on Monday.
During the visit, the DSWD staff assessed Veloso for Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) aid. She plans to put up a sari-sari store at their home as a source of livelihood for her family, the DSWD said.
The SLP “provides livelihood support to eligible individuals and families to establish or strengthen sources of income,” the DSWD said.
“Our goal is not only to meet her immediate needs, but also help her start over and become more self-sufficient,” DSWD Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao said. “The Department is here to guide her and her family in very step while she is readjusting to her life with her loved ones.”
