PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia's National Assembly unanimously approved the reappointment of Prak Sokhonn as foreign minister Wednesday.
Prak Sokhonn, a first vice president of the Senate and a former deputy prime minister and foreign minister, replaced Sok Chenda Sophea, who remains deputy prime minister.
Prime Minister Hun Manet posted a congratulatory message to Prak Sokhonn on his Telegram channel shortly afterward.
Hun Manet succeeded his father last year after Hun Sen ruled the Southeast Asian country for nearly four decades, but there have been few signs of political liberalization.
Prak Sokhonn was deputy prime minister and foreign minister from 2016 through 2023 under Hun Sen. Before that, he was Cambodia's ambassador to several countries.
In a previous Cabinet shuffle in September, Sok Soken became inspection minister and Hout Hak became tourism minister in a swapping of posts.
At a university graduation ceremony in September, Hun Manet said adjustments in his Cabinet were meant to enhance governance and to push the ministers to work as a team.
FILE -Cambodia's Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn speaks during a press conference after the 55th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting (55th AMM) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Aug. 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith, File)
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Wednesday that a deal has been reached for Indonesia to send back a Filipino death-row drug convict, who was nearly executed by firing squad but got a reprieve due to years of pleadings from Manila.
Marcos thanked Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and his government for granting a longstanding Philippine request for Mary Jane Veloso to be brought back home to serve her sentence in her country.
“Mary Jane Veloso is coming home,” Marcos said in a statement. “Arrested in 2010 on drug trafficking charges and sentenced to death, Mary Jane’s case has been a long and difficult journey.”
It was not immediately clear when Veloso would be transported to the Philippines, but Marcos said he looked forward to welcoming her home.
In Jakarta, Indonesia, Evi Loliancy, the chief of Yogyakarta's female prison, told The Associated Press that there was still no request or order for Veloso's release.
“She will still be under our supervision at the Yogyakarta Correctional Institution until there is a specific order regarding her transfer from the High Prosecutors’ Office," she said.
The decision, Marcos said, “is a reflection of the depth our nation’s partnership with Indonesia — united in a shared commitment to justice and compassion."
Details of the agreement were not immediately disclosed but if Veloso's transfer proceeds, it would remove the possibility of her facing an execution because the Philippines, Asia’s largest Roman Catholic nation, has long abolished the death penalty.
In 2015, Indonesian authorities moved Veloso to an island prison where she and eight other drug convicts were scheduled to be executed by firing squad despite objections from the convicts' home countries, including Australia, Brazil, France, Ghana and Nigeria.
Indonesia executed the eight other drug convicts.
Veloso’s case has caused a public outcry in the Philippines, where her family and supporters contend she is innocent and was unaware that somebody had concealed the pack of heroin in her suitcase that was found when she entered Indonesia.
A poor housewife, she traveled to Indonesia in 2010 where her godsister reportedly told her a job as a domestic worker awaited her. Her godsister also allegedly provided the suitcase where the prohibited drugs were found.
Marcos said Veloso’s story resonated with many in the Philippines, as “a mother trapped by the grip of poverty, who made one desperate choice that altered the course of her life."
“While she was held accountable under Indonesian law, she remains a victim of her circumstances," Marcos said.
The Philippines has been a global source of manual labor, including many impoverished women who abandon their families for higher-paying jobs and better opportunities abroad. Alarming abuse, especially of Filipina house helpers, has prompted Philippine authorities to impose restrictions and safeguards but the exploitations have continued.
At least 59 Filipinos around the world face the death penalty mostly for drug and murder convictions, the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila said.
Associated Press journalist Edna Tarigan in Jakarta, Indonesia contributed to this report.
FILE - Protesters hold a picture of Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipino convicted drug trafficker in Indonesia, as they urge Philippine President save her from execution during a rally in Manila, Philippines on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2016. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)
