Manila: Philippine Vice-President Jejomar Binay has left for Indonesia to attend a political summit, vowing to seek a reprieve for a Filipina overseas worker (OFW) who was sentenced to death for drug smuggling in 2010.

Binay said he had scheduled a meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo on the sidelines of the Asian-African Summit in Bandung, Indonesia, which started on Tuesday.

The two leaders will discuss the case of Mary Jane Veloso, the Filipina who was convicted of smuggling 2.6 kilogrammes of heroin through the Yogyakarta airport in 2010.

President Widodo would understand the urgency of the appeal because the he had just appealed for the life of an Indonesian domestic helper before the King of Saudi Arabia, Binay said, adding, “I am certain His Excellency understands why we in government are doing all we can to save the life of our kababayan [countryman]. It is the responsibility of governments to come to the aid of their countrymen, especially those in difficult circumstances.”

“I intend to bring to His Excellency our people’s hope for compassion, given the circumstances surrounding the case,” Binay said.

Binay said he would argue that Veloso was “a victim” of people whom she trusted who also “took advantage of her trust when she was asked to hand carry luggage containing illegal drugs”.

“She was not part of a drug syndicate,” concluded Binay who is also presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers’ concerns.

Indonesia’s legal office will decide on April 24 the appeal of Veloso and eight other foreigners who were sentenced to death for drug trafficking.

The Philippine government has been looking for Veloso’s alleged recruiter, who is suspected of having given her suitcases for personal use, but which also contained hidden packs of heroin, Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr said.

Blaming the government for being responsible for Veloso’s fate, Migrante International, a workers’ rights group, complained that she was not given a lawyer and her interpreter could not help her during the investigation of her case.

The Indonesian Supreme Court had rejected the Philippine government’s first appeal for the commutation of Veloso’s death sentence to life in prison.

Veloso is one of the country’s 10 million OFWs based worldwide. Many of them work in politically unstable countries.

OFWs send an average of $25.5 billion (Dh93.6 billion) remittances to their relatives in the Philippines every year.