A MARINE colonel who had been charged — and cleared — in connection with a P380-million shabu case is the new AFP Provost Marshal General who is tasked to maintain discipline among military personnel.
Col. Ferdinand Marcelino assumed his new post last Friday during rites presided over by AFP deputy chief of staff for personnel Maj. Gen. Rommel Roldan at the AFP general headquarters at Camp Aguinaldo.
Marcelino, a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1994, succeeded now retired Brig. Gen. Gerry Pulohanan.
AFP public affairs office chief Col. Xerxes Trinidad described Marcelino as a “renowned intelligence officer” who has served with the Intelligence Service of the AFP (ISAFP).
He had also been detailed with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) which is leading the government’s war against illegal drugs.
Roldan assured Marcelino the AFP “will always support your efforts and endeavors especially in instilling discipline and professionalism in our organization as these are the foundations of our vision of becoming a world-class armed forces that is a source of national pride.”
In January 2016, Marcelino and a Chinese companion, Yan Yi Shou, were nabbed by PDEA and PNP personnel during a raid on a drug laboratory in Manila. The operation resulted in the recovery of 77 kilos of shabu worth P380 million.
The two were charged before the Manila regional trial court but were released from detention in May 2017 after the Department of Justice withdrew the charges against them.
The DOJ said Marcelino and Shou were cleared after the two have “sufficiently proven that they were in performance of lawful duty when they were chanced upon by the PNP and PDEA joint team” at the drug laboratory.
This, the DOJ said, negated the evidence presented by the PDEA and PNP that Marcelino and Shou were involved in the manufacture and possession of illegal drugs.
Marcelino, who was then the superintendent of the Naval Candidate Officer School, said he was gathering intelligence information against illegal drugs at that time, based on the authority given by the military. Marcelino also said that he was authorized by the military to gather such intelligence information against drug syndicates.
Marcelino was among the PMA graduates recognized by the academy in the field of special operations during the PMA alumni homecoming last February.
Marcelino played key role in operations that led to the seizure of billions of pesos worth of illegal drugs and smuggled goods, and arrest of terrorists and communists, “high-risk” foreign nationals and members of crime groups.
