Col. Ferdinand Marcelino. SCREENGRAB FROM RUEL PEREZ’S TWITTER VIDEO
The Philippine Navy has no knowledge on the presence of Lt. Col. Ferdinand Marcelino in a drug raid early Thursday by operatives of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Manila.
Navy spokesperson Col. Edgard Arevalo confirmed that they have a Ferdinand Marcelino in their active Marine personnel, however, could not immediately say if he was the same person arrested by authorities.
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“We are yet to receive a formal report of the incident or a notice to indicate that he is the same person allegedly apprehended in the raid. We only learned this incident from news reports,” he said.
The Marine officer in their list supposedly assumed as Superintendent of the Navy Officer Candidate School stationed at the Naval Education and Training Command (NETC) in Zambales last Monday. He is a member of Philippine Military Academy Class of 1994.
Arevalo said: “He was seen last at around 7 p.m. last night at the NETC. The chief of staff of the NETC told me he just received a text from Marcelino at around 7 a.m. today notifying him that he (Marcelino) went to Manila early morning because one of their ‘action agents has been arrested by PDEA and they are implicating me po sa syndicate and made pronouncements in the media about it.'”
“As at this time, the Phil Navy is not aware either of the circumstances of the arrest or if the person arrested and the one in our record are the same. Assuming that he is the same person, the Navy is not aware of the reason for his alleged presence in the location of the raid,” the spokesperson added.
Authorities were surprised to see Marcelino, formerly with PDEA during the time of Dir. Gen. Narciso Santiago, in a drug bust operation in Sta. Cruz, Manila, where they found 64 kilograms of methampethamine hydrochloride (“shabu”) with an estimated worth of P300 million. The presence of
Marcelino, if he was doing his intelligence work, was not coordinated with the operatives.
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The Marine officer insisted he was doing legitimate work.
Marcelino reportedly had previous ties with the military’s Intelligence Service, however, it could not be immediately verified if he is still with the unit.
“These notwithstanding, the Navy does not condone any illegal activities of its members. If the person reported is indeed a member of the Navy and clearly in violation of our laws, it will cooperate actively in the implementation of the law,” Arevalo said. RAM