Court defers issuance of Marcelino’s warrant of arrest

THE Manila Regional Trial Court has deferred the issuance of warrant of arrests against Marine Lieutenant Colonel Ferdinand Marcelino and his Chinese companion Yan Yi Shou who are facing a drug case in connection with the P380-million worth of shabu seized in Manila early this year.

Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) Chief Persida Rueda Acosta said Manila RTC Branch 17 Judge Felicitas Laron-Cacanindin, apart from deferring the issuance of the warrants, also postponed the arraignment of Marcelino and Yan on the charges of violation of Section 11 (possession of dangerous drugs) of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

“[The court has suspended the] arraignment [and] issuance of warrants of arrests,” said Acosta who serves as Marcelino’s counsel.

The court has given the prosecution 10 days to comment on the motions filed by PAO on behalf of Marcelino.

PAO has filed several motions in court, including the suspension of the issuance of a warrant of arrest, arraignment, motion for determination of probable cause and motion to quash.

They sought the dismissal of the case against Marcelino following the Department of Justice’s reversal of its June 2016 resolution.

Last June, the DOJ dismissed the case against Marcelino and Yan for insufficiency of evidence, prompting the Philippine National Police-Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (PNP-AIDG) and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to file a motion for reconsideration.

In their motion, the PNP-AIDG and the PDEA argued that Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Theodore Villanueva, who issued the June 2016 resolution dismissing the case against Marcelino, has exceeded the scope of what a prosecutor should do in handling preliminary investigation of a case and that he abused his discretion in junking the case.

The PNP-AIDG and PDEA also said they have presented strong and adequate evidence against the accused contrary to the findings of Villanueva in his resolution.

The DOJ then issued a resolution signed by Assistant State Prosecutor Alexander Suarez and approved by Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Richard Anthony Fadullon reversed the earlier finding and said it now found probable cause to indict Marcelino and Yan for violation of Section 11 of RA 9165./rga