Windows26: Weekend Roundup: Mary Jane Veloso returns home, UP Fighting Maroons reclaim championship, and more

Happy holidays, reader!

Four days before Christmas! This week, we covered Mary Jane Veloso's return to the Philippines after 14 years, the BSP's unveiling of new polymer banknotes, and the UP Fighting Maroons reclaiming the UAAP men's basketball title.

This is your Weekend Roundup, your weekly fix for everything you need to catch up.

14 YEARS IN PRISON

Mary Jane is home

After 14 years in prison for alleged drug trafficking, Mary Jane Veloso — the Filipina on death row in Indonesia — has finally returned home. Veloso's return follows an agreement between Jakarta and Manila, which was announced by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and the Department of Foreign Affairs last month.

Veloso was sentenced to death after she was caught carrying 2.6 kilograms of heroin inside her suitcase at Yogyakarta airport in Indonesia in 2010. However, she has maintained that she was unaware of the suitcase's contents, claiming it was handed to her by her recruiters.

Upon her return to the Philippines, Veloso appealed to President Marcos to grant her clemency. A lawmaker also filed a resolution urging the House of Representatives to call on the president to grant the said request.

To learn more and get a quick recap of Veloso's case, here is a detailed timeline of her more than decade-long fight for justice — one of the most high-profile legal battles involving an overseas Filipino worker.

CHINESE AGGRESSION

The Vietnam case

One of the biggest lessons that Vietnam has learned about China's expansionism in the South China Sea is indisputable — the Asian behemoth does not discriminate in its campaign of conquest at sea.

Here's how the aggression that Filipinos confront with regularity — almost weekly — in the West Philippine Sea is not an "exclusive experience" of the Philippines, as detailed in this in-depth report by Kurt dela Peña.

2025 NATIONAL BUDGET

DepEd's unspent funds

As debates intensify over the Department of Education's (DepEd) P12 billion budget cut for 2025, they expose a critical issue: the department's persistent struggle to utilize billions in allocated funds.

The problem often arises at the obligation and disbursement stages, where, in this case, significant portions of DepEd's budget remain unspent. Here is a special report by Cristina Eloisa Baclig.

ON MY RADAR

Must-reads