DOJ dismisses drug case vs Lt. Col. Marcelino

Former PDEA official Lt. Col. Ferdinand Marcelino escorted by PDEA agents after inquest proceedings at the Department of Justice. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/LYN RILLON

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday dismissed for lack of evidence the drug case against Marine Lieutenant Colonel Ferdinand Marcelino and his Chinese companion.

“After an assiduous evaluation of the evidence presented by both parties [DOJ]  finds the evidence so far presented by the PNP (Philippine National Police) and PDEA (Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency) insufficient of the required evidence to sustain a conviction during the trial on the merits of the case,” the 15-page DOJ resolution written by Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Theodore Villanueva stated.

Marcelino, former intelligence officer of the PDEA, and Yan Yi Shou were arrested in a drug raid last January 21 at a house in Sampaloc, Manila where over P380-million worth of drugs were confiscated.

READ: Top narc busted: Say it ain’t so, Col. Marcelino

The DOJ noted that the search warrant for the house in Sampaloc was for a certain Lo Chi AKA “Tanda,” Atong Lee AKA “Atong,” and a certain Chu.

Both Marcelino and Yan were not seen during the casing and surveillance of the premises.

The DOJ noted that Marcelino and Yan were only encountered by the authorities during the actual raid.

The authorities said Marcelino was found sitting on a couch on the ground floor of the house while anti-drug operatives found Yan on the second floor arranging plastic trays containing shabu.

But the DOJ said an examination of the sworn statements submitted by the authorities failed to reveal the identities of the actual operatives who caught Yan arranging the plastic trays containing shabu.

“The PNP and PDEA alleges that respondents had possession of the illegal drugs but that is only their presumption based on the presence of the respondents at the scene of the crime which as of this writing is not supported by any independent evidence,” the DOJ resolution stated.

The DOJ added that authorities also failed to prove that both Marcelino and Yan had prior actual knowledge that the house was a drug laboratory.

Even Yan’s possession of the key to the house is not enough to charge them in court, the DOJ said.

“Evidence must be presented to show that Marcelino and Yan had prior knowledge of what was to be found inside and what the two has decided to do with the contents of the house after opening the house. There should be prior overt acts of exercising control, administration, possession to show dominion over the premises and to whatever is found therein,” the resolution stated.

The fact that the PNP and PDEA had to ask the security of the area to open the electrical power of the house and that Marcelino was sitting on a couch on the first floor while the drugs were found on the second floor “cannot sustain a conviction that requires the proof of guilt beyond reasonable doubt.”

Marcelino and Yan said they entered the house at 10:20 in the evening and was followed by PNP and PDEA at 10:22.

“To assume that they are very familiar with the premises that Yan could find his way to the second floor of the house and arrange plastic trays containing shabu could be a speculation,” the DOJ said.

The DOJ also took note of the letter from National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Virgilio Mendez that Marcelino was part of their operation against dangerous drugs, affirming Marcelino’s claim that he conducted surveillance operations alone on suspected illegal drugs activities before informing the NBI.

The DOJ, through Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Theodore Villanueva, explained that they conducted the preliminary investigation on Marcelino and Yan for the purpose of filing the case against them in court.

Villanueva said the duty of the prosecutor was to weigh the evidence presented by both parties before deciding whether to file or dismiss a case.

“An investigating prosecutor is under no obligation to file a criminal action where he is not convinced that he has the quantum of evidence at hand to support averments,” Villanueva said.

Marcelino was already released from detention after the Quezon City Regional Trial Court granted his petition for bail.

READ: Ex ‘drug-buster’ Marcelino walks free after 4 months in jail

The Court, through Judge Lyn Ebora Cacha, said there was not enough evidence to deny Marcelino’s request for bail.

“His mere presence at the house does not by itself makes petitioner Marcelino liable as such is merely circumstantial which is yet to be connected to the crime,” the court said.

The court added that Marcelino’s name did not even appear in the inventory of evidence as well as with the photographs taken during the inventory.

“All in all, the circumstances presented by the prosecution lacks the strength needed to show that the state has the right to completely deprive petitioner Marcelino of his provisional liberty pending hearing of the case once it is filed,” the court said. JE/rga