PDEA lauds DOJ for taking second look at Marcelino case

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) yesterday lauded the Department of Justice (DOJ) for taking a second look at the case of Lt. Col. Ferdinand Marcelino and his alleged Chinese cohort.

In a statement, PDEA director general Isidro Lapeña said they are “grateful” to the DOJ for its reversal of an earlier decision dismissing the drug charges filed against Marcelino and Yan Yi Shuo.

Marcelino and Yan were arrested inside a unit at the Celadon Residences in Manila last January, where P256 million worth of shabu was allegedly seized.

The DOJ, through assistant state prosecutor Alexander Suarez, partially granted the motion for reconsideration of the resolution dated May 23, which dismissed the complaint against Marcelino and Yan.

The DOJ in a resolution said that there was “reasonable ground to believe that the offense charged has been committed and the accused are probably guilty thereof and should be held for trial.”

Marcelino and Yan are expected to stand trial on charges of possession of illegal drugs after the DOJ found probable cause to indict them in a 28-page resolution dated Sept. 15.

However, the dismissal of charges on the manufacture of illegal drugs was maintained by the DOJ.

“PDEA and the PNP-AIDG have successfully discharged their duty to submit strong evidence of guilt on the part of Marcelino and Yan,” Lapeña said.

Last June, senior deputy state prosecutor Theodore Villanueva recommended the dismissal of the case for insufficiency of evidence.