A certification issued by the Intelligence and Security Group of the Philippine Army for Marine Lieutenant Colonel Ferdinand Marcelino is good from “November to December 2015.”
But Army chief Lieutenant General Eduardo Ano said that Marcelino, being an intelligence officer, has the task and duty to share timely intelligence information even as his certification of authority does not cover any particular time or period.
It has no time frame as it is a continuing effort, said Ano. “Actually hindi naman si Col. Marcelino lang e, pati ‘yung mga ibang officers ng Armed Forces ‘pag makakatulong sila, nagsi-share sila ng information…that’s a normal a practice,” he explained.
Ano and Marcelino worked together way back in 2014 when the general was chief of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Army spokesman Colonel Benjamin Hao, who sent a copy of the certification through email, declined to comment on the certification as the case of Marcelino was already under the determination of the Department of Justice.
This developed after Marcelino asked for a preliminary investigation in connection with the case filed against him by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency under Director Arturo Cacdac Jr. for alleged drug trafficking.
Marcelino, a former PDEA agent, was arrested together with former PDEA interpreter Yan Yin Shou during a drug raid last week on a shabu laboratory inside an exclusive subdivision in Sta. Cruz, Manila that resulted in the confiscation of more than 60 kilos of shabu valued at P400 million.
Marcelino insisted he was on a “legitimate intelligence operation” contrary to allegation by PDEA Director Arturo Cacdac Jr. that he was into drug-trafficking. PDEA agents pounced on him and Shou right after they entered the townhouse.
But the certification dated Jan. 22, 2016 and issued by Army ISG commander Col. Marlo Guloy, showed that Marcelino was tasked to share information with the unit with regard to Army personnel involved in drug trafficking activities under Task Force Moses of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Task Group Midas of the Army.
The Army chief attested to Marcelino’s integrity as an officer and anti-illegal drugs crusader and urged the PDEA to come up with solid evidence linking the latter to drug syndicates.
Even the Philippine National Police was saying that Marcelino has “links” with a drug syndicate identified with a certain Atong Lee, which it has yet to prove with evidence, he said.
Marcelino’s exploits against drug syndicates and drug traffickers in the country led to destruction of the biggest shabu lab and confiscation of shabu worth P3 billion in 2015 in Camiling, Tarlac. This operation was said to be developed by Marcelino and he was not anymore connected with the PDEA but he shared this information to the National Bureau of Investigation which led the Tarlac raid.