PNP bucks Marcelino’s detention transfer

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine National Police Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (PNP-AIDG) has opposed a proposal of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to transfer Marine Lt. Col. Ferdinand Marcelino to another detention facility while undergoing preliminary investigation on drug charges.

PNP-AIDG chief Senior Superintendent Manolo Ozaeta opposed the recommendation of Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Theodore Villanueva to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) to transfer Marcelino to the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation or the Philippine Navy.

Marcelino’s camp earlier requested the DOJ for the transfer after he was moved from the PNP-AIDG detention facility at Camp Crame in Quezon City to the BJMP’s Quezon City jail annex at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig.

“Allowing the transfer of Marcelino will set a bad precedent and open the floodgates of similar requests from members of the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) who are in jail,” Ozaeta said in a one-page letter to the BJMP.

“To prevent public perception that Marcelino enjoys special treatment while in detention, it is best to keep him at the BJMP facility pending preliminary investigation of his case,” Ozaeta added.

The DOJ earlier raised concern for Marcelino’s safety at the Quezon City jail annex where drug suspects arrested by the Marine officer are also being held.

But Ozaeta believes the BJMP is capable of handling the situation.

Marcelino, a former director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)'s Special Enforcement Service, and his Chinese interpreter, Yan Yi Shou, were arrested in a raid on a suspected shabu storage facility in Sta. Cruz, Manila on Jan. 21.

PDEA agents recovered 64 kilos of shabu worth P256 million during the sting.

Authorities said Marcelino was found sitting in a couch when the police arrived.

The DOJ also proposed the transfer of Yan to the NBI facility.

Yan denied the drug charges filed against him by the police in a counter-affidavit submitted to the DOJ yesterday.

He maintained that he is an “action agent” of the PDEA. He insisted that his presence in the raided drug facility was part of a covert operation.

Marcelino had earlier denied the charges of conspiracy in the manufacture and possession of illegal drugs under Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

The former PDEA official said he was on a mission order to go after drug lords and operators, but failed to show documents to support his claim.