Caparas hits Marcelino case dismissal

MANILA, Philippines - Outgoing Justice Secretary Emmanuel Caparas said yesterday he is puzzled by the dismissal of the criminal charges against Marine Lt. Colonel Ferdinand Marcelino and his Chinese companion stemming from their arrest in a house in Manila where P256 million worth of shabu was seized.

Caparas even summoned Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Theodore Villanueva to his office yesterday to explain the decision to drop the charges for lack of probable cause after preliminary investigation.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) chief admitted that the resolution issued last week caught him by surprise – he believes there is probable cause to indict Marcelino and Yan Yi Shuo.

“I will ask Prosecutor Villa-nueva to explain his findings,” Caparas said in an interview.     

Under DOJ procedures, the secretary is not supposed to intervene in the conduct of preliminary investigation. He can only affirm or reverse a prosecutor’s resolution once a petition for review is filed before his office by an aggrieved party.

Caparas, who was earlier accused of issuing “midnight resolutions,” only has three days left in office before being replaced by Vitaliano Aguirre II.

In his resolution last week, Villanueva cited insufficiency of evidence in dismissing the charges of conspiracy in the manufacture and possession of illegal drugs under Republic Act 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002) filed by the Philippine National Police Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (PNP-AIDG) and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency against Marcelino and Yan.