Army chief Lt. Gen. Eduardo Año said there was “no official line existing” between him and Lt. Col Ferdinand Marcelino, who was arrested on Thursday in a drug bust operation supposedly while doing intelligence work.
On Friday, Marcelino mentioned at an inquest proceeding at the Department of Justice that Año was his “handler.”
Marcelino was arrested by combined operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Philippine National Police in Manila, a surprise to the security forces community as he was a known drug buster of PDEA in recent years.
He claimed he was doing “legitimate” work.
But the Army chief refused to comment on Thursday’s incident as he did not know the details.
“We can’t judge him either,” he said.
Año was chief of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) in 2014, where he worked with Marcelino.
“I was his boss when I was Chief ISAFP. Ltc Marcelino was my field commander based in Laguna. He was very effective then and he was accomplishing significant tasks. He even facilitated the capture of a key target during that time,” Ano said.
The former intelligence chief also vouched for Marcelino’s integrity and that he had been a witness to the latter’s “personal crusade and conviction” against drug syndicates.
Año later headed the Army’s 10th Infantry Division before he became Army chief last July.
“Our official relationship ended when I left ISAFP,” he said.
He assured the public the Philippine Army will cooperate with concerned government agencies when needed.