DOJ withdraws drug case vs Marcelino, Chinese

May 18, 2017

The justice department approved the withdrawal of its drug case against Marine Lieutenant Colonel Ferdinand Marcelino and his Chinese companion Yan Yi Shou. In a 13 page resolution, Undersecretary Deo L. Marco upheld the May 23, 2016 resolution of Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Theodore Villanueva clearing Marcelino and Yan of alleged violation of  the Comprehensive Dangerous Drug Act for possession of illegal drugs due to lack of evidence. The evidence presented by the Philippine National Police(PNP) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency is not enough to warrant filing of drug cases against the respondents in court, the resolution said. "Lt. Col. Marcelino and Yan Yi Shou have sufficiently proven that they were in performance of a lawful duty when they were chanced upon by the PNP and PDEA joint team, thereby negating the evidence of the complainants-appellees purportedly establishing that they are probably involved in the manufacture of illegal drugs, conspiracy in the manufacture thereof, or illegal possession of the same," the resolution said. The resolution overturned the September 2016 ruling finding probable cause against Marcelino and Yan. Marcelino and Yan were arrested in a drug bust along Felix Huertas st in Manila on Jan. 21, 2016. Seized were 76,697.7 grams or P380-million worth of shabu. Marcelino said he was surveillance operations with his asset Yan. DMS