DOJ proposes Marcelino’s transfer to PN or NBI custody

Department of Justice (DOJ).
(Photo courtesy of DOJ website)

MANILA—The Department of Justice (DOJ) has proposed the transfer of the custody of Marine Lt. Col. Ferdinand L. Marcelino from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in Taguig City either to the Philippine Navy (PN) or the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

In a two-page letter of Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Theodore Villanueva, the DOJ cited safety and security reasons in its proposal to immediately transfer Marcelino to the PN or NBI custody.

Villanueva heads the DOJ Task Force focusing on illegal drug cases such as the case of Marcelino and Chinese interpreter Yan Yi Shou, who were earlier charged by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) with violation of Republic Act No. 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

Marcelino and the Chinese national were arrested in a clandestine shabu laboratory in Sta. Cruz, Manila, where more than Php300-million worth of shabu was confiscated last Jan. 21.

Villanueva noted that Marcelino can also be placed under the custody of the PN, which earlier said that they are prepared to take custody of Marcelino who is an active member of the Philippine Marines.

The camp of Marcelino has asked the DOJ for the transfer of his custody after he was moved from the detention facility of the Philippine National Police-Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (PNP-AIDG) in Camp Crame, Quezon City to the BJMP’s Quezon City Jail Annex Detention Center in Taguig City last week.