A woman from the Philippines who spent nearly 15 years on death row in Indonesia and was nearly executed by firing squad has finally been released from her home.

Mary Jane Veloso was sentenced to death in 2010 after she was found carrying 2.6kg (5.7lb) of heroin through an airport in Indonesia.

But the 39-year-old mother of two has always insisted she was tricked into carrying the drugs.

She was flown back to Manila on Wednesday, after the two governments reached an agreement that allowed her to return home.

"This is a new life for me and I will have a new start in the Philippines," she said at a press conference, adding that she wanted to spend Christmas with her family.

"I have to go home because I have a family there, my children are waiting for me."

While the agreement states that Veloso will return as a prisoner, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos could grant her relief. She is now being held at the country's main prison for women in Metro Manila.

Veloso was arrested in April 2010 at Yogyakarta airport.

She said she was convinced by the daughter of one of her pious parents to travel to Indonesia to start a new job as a maid.

She said the woman's male friends gave her new clothes and a new bag, which she was unaware had heroin sewn into it.

She was expected to face the firing squad in 2015, but Then-Philippine president Benigno Aquino III won her last-minute compensation after the woman suspected of recruiting her was arrested and put on trial for trafficking people. Veloso was named as a prosecution witness in that case.

Her recapture was so late that several newspapers in the Philippines printed front pages and headlines reporting that it had happened.

Ms. Veloso's case drew widespread public sympathy in the Philippines, which does not have the death penalty.

Her situation was familiar to many in the Philippines, where it is common for women to escape poverty by seeking work abroad as domestic helpers.

"I bring a lot of things with me, like a guitar, books, knitting...

Her move comes just days after the five remaining members of The notorious "Bali Nine" drug ring returned home after spending almost 20 years in Indonesian prisons.