In short:
Drug trafficker Mary Jane Veloso has been released from prison.
She was due to be executed in Indonesia in 2015 alongside the Bali Nine, which included Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.
What's next?
Veloso says she is looking forward to being reunited with her sons.
A woman who spent almost 15 years on death row in Indonesia for drug trafficking as part of the Bali Nine has walked free from jail after receiving a presidential pardon.
Mary Jane Veloso smiled as she left her prison cell in the Philippines on Friday, local time, holding the document signed by President Ferdinand Marcos granting her "absolute pardon".
Veloso was arrested and sentenced to death by an Indonesian court in 2010 after carrying a suitcase lined with 2.6 kilograms of heroin.
She was scheduled to be executed in April 2015 alongside eight others convicted of drug crimes, including Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.
But she was given a last minute reprieve from a death by firing squad after Philippines authorities arrested her suspected recruiter, who is accused of duping her into carrying the false-bottomed suitcase containing the illegal drugs.
Nine years later Jakarta handed her back over to authorities in her homeland under a "practical arrangement", allowing her to serve the rest of her sentence at a prison in the Philippines.
"I wish to convey my gratitude to our dear president who cleared my name and allowed me to reunite with my family," she said.
Veloso said she was looking forward to being reunited with her two sons.
"I was unable to supervise them as they grew up, but I believe it's not too late,"she said.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said he signed Veloso's pardon on Thursday ahead of her release on Friday.
Case caused tension between Indonesia and the Philippines
Veloso's case has caused much outcry in the Philippines over the years, where her family and supporters maintain she is innocent and was duped by an international drug syndicate.
Veloso had travelled to Indonesia as a 30-year-old to seek work as a domestic worker or maid.
At the time Australian lawyers had argued she was a victim of human trafficking.
Veloso became a poster child of the Philippine economic diaspora, as she was one of millions who had sought better paying work abroad with the hope of helping their family escape poverty.
Her story resonated with many as "a mother trapped by the grip of poverty, who made one desperate choice that altered the course of her life", according to Mr Marcos at the time she was transferred.
Bali Nine executions also prompted Australian outrage
Chan and Sukumaran died in 2015 after being found guilty of attempting to smuggle more than eight kilograms of heroin into Australia.
Unlike Veloso, they were refused clemency by Indonesian president Joko Widodo as part of a hardline stance on the death penalty for convicted drug criminals.
That was despite an emotional plea from their families and a last-ditch attempt for mercy from the governments of Australia, France and the European Union, who jointly petitioned Indonesia to declare a moratorium on capital punishment.
Their deaths sparked an "unprecedented" diplomatic response, with Australia withdrawing its ambassador from Indonesia in protest.
Then Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Australia deeply regretted the "cruel" and "unnecessary" executions described it as a "dark moment" in the relationship between Australia and Indonesia.
ABC/AFP
