PDEA tells CBCP:  No papers to show Marcelino gave NBI drugs info

MANILA — The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency defended its stance on the charges against embattled Lt. Col. Ferdinand Marcelino following an appeal of Catholic bishops to drop the cases against him.

The PDEA wrote a letter to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, in which the anti-narcotics agency clarified issues raised by the CBCP in its appeal to the Department of Justice.

“We hope that we are able to clarify the issues raised in the spirit of truth and transparency… The PDEA is hoping that the DOJ will render a just and fair decision,” said PDEA chief Arturo Cacdac Jr. said.

Last month, the CBCP through Bishop Broderick Pabillo urged the DOJ to dismiss the cases against Marcelino, claiming that the evidence was weak and a product of inconsistent lies.

Marcelino and a civilian tipster, Yi Shuo Yan, were arrested by the Philippine National Police’s Anti-Illegal Drugs Group and the PDEA last January 21 at a townhouse in Manila, which turned out to be a clandestine shabu laboratory.

In its letter to the CBCP, the PDEA maintained that the National Bureau of Investigation had no documents indicating that Marcelino, a decorated Philippine Marine, shared any information with the NBI regarding the illegal drug activities at the townhouse where they were arrested.

This was after NBI Director Virgilio Mendez Jr. wrote the DOJ to claim that Marcelino was instrumental in the NBI’s anti-narcotics campaign.

This prompted the AIDG head, Senior Supt. Manolo Ozaeta, to request the NBI for documents showing that Marcelino indeed shared information on the clandestine shabu laboratory at the Celadon Residences where Marcelino was arrested during a raid.

The PDEA stressed they have not received the requested documents from the NBI, to date.

Cacdac said the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine Navy and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission all claimed that Marcelino was not authorized to conduct anti-illegal drugs operations and that he was not involved in the PDEA and AIDG’s surveillance of the Celadon Residences.

The embattled military officer is technically not a law enforcement officer since an agreement between the AFP and the PDEA allowing military officers to conduct anti-illegal drugs operations has expired six years ago, according to Cacdac.

Cacdac added that the supposed tipster, Shuo, was not utilized as an action agent of the PDEA when he assumed office in October 2012.

The PDEA said it would present the results of the forensic examination conducted on Marcelino and Shuo’s cellphones, as well as the financial investigation of the Anti-Money Laundering Council.

Cacdac added that May Co, the owner of the unit which housed the shabu laboratory, allowed Marcelino and Shuo to enter the unit using a key.  SFM