Manila. Several Philippine newspapers were caught out Wednesday by a last-minute reprieve for a young woman facing execution in Indonesia, running front-page headlines bidding her farewell and accusing the government of failing to save her.

“Death came before dawn,” read the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s dramatic headline, above a large photograph of condemned Filipina maid Mary Jane Veloso, 30, whose plight has captivated the nation.

Manila’s best-selling Filipino-language tabloid Abante ran a black-themed front page together with a picture of Veloso, head bowed, and a headline in capitals that translates as: “Farewell, Mary Jane”.

Indonesia defied global anger to execute seven foreign drug convicts and a local man by firing squad in the early hours of Wednesday, but spared Veloso at the 11th hour in a decision her ecstatic family welcomed as a “miracle”.

Veloso claimed an international trafficking gang tricked her into bringing 2.6 kilograms of heroin to Indonesia from Malaysia five years ago as she chased a nonexistent job as a domestic worker.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo granted an 11th-hour reprieve after a woman suspected of recruiting Veloso turned herself in to authorities in the Philippines.

However, the news of the canceled midnight execution came too late for most Filipino newspapers rushing to put out their final print editions.

“PNOY IS TO BLAME,” the tabloid Standard’s headline read, referring to criticism over the supposed “negligence” of the government of Benigno Aquino, using media shorthand for his nickname — President Noynoy.

“All hopes fade,” the Manila Times concluded, while the Manila Bulletin reflected the drama across three editions with the evolving headlines “We’re hoping for a miracle”, “No delay in execution” and finally, “Veloso granted reprieve”.

The erroneous print-edition headlines swiftly became fodder for ridicule, with the online news site Coconuts Media running an item chiding the media for “killing” Veloso.

One Facebook user posted a composite picture of the front page snafu together with one of US president-elect Harry Truman holding a copy of the famous Chicago Tribune headline “Dewey Defeats Truman”.

“Proof that journalism hasn’t really changed much in the past six decades,” the caption read.

Agence France-Presse