Mother of two Mary Jane Veloso, 39, was arrested and sentenced to death in 2010 after the suitcase she was carrying was found to be lined with 2.6 kilograms (5.7 pounds) of heroin, in a case that sparked uproar in the Philippines.
“This is a new life for me and I will have a new beginning in the Philippines,“ she told a press conference in tears, adding that she wanted to spend Christmas with her family.
The agreement between Jakarta and Manila states that she will be transferred as a prisoner with Manila to respect her life sentence, but it will fall under Philippine law upon her return, meaning President Ferdinand Marcos could grant her a reprieve.
“I am very happy today, but to be honest I am a little sad, because Indonesia has been my second family,“ she said before singing the Indonesian national anthem.
Veloso thanked the leaders of both countries before making a love heart sign with her hands and shouting “I love Indonesia!”
Before addressing the media, she broke down in tears as she called her children and parents.
Her mother Celia Veloso, 65, has called for Philippine President Marcos to grant her clemency so she can spend Christmas with her family.
Veloso told AFP on Friday in her first interview since the repatriation agreement that her release was a “miracle”.
She was due to face the firing squad in 2015 but the Philippine government won a last-minute reprieve for her after a woman suspected of recruiting her was arrested and put on trial for human trafficking and Veloso was named a prosecution witness.
Muslim-majority Indonesia has some of the world's toughest drug laws and has executed foreigners in the past.
According to Indonesia's Ministry of Immigration and Corrections, 96 foreigners were on death row, all on drug charges, as of early November.
President Prabowo Subianto had agreed to fulfil their requests to hand back some prisoners who were sentenced on drug charges.
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