REVERSAL OF FORTUNE Marine Lt. Col. Ferdinand Marcelino is escorted by policemen to the Department of Justice. PHOTO BY CESAR DANCEL
REVERSAL OF FORTUNE Marine Lt. Col. Ferdinand Marcelino is escorted by policemen to the Department of Justice. PHOTO BY CESAR DANCEL

Former Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) director Col. Ferdinand Marcelino was formally charged before the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday.

Marcelino underwent a preliminary inquest for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

The former anti-drug official who broke the Alabang Boys drug ring was arrested by PDEA agents during a raid on a shabu laboratory in Manila on Thursday.

During the inquest, Marcelino executed a waiver of detention, meaning that he will stay in jail while the case is pending at the Justice department.

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Senior Deputy Prosecutor Theodore Villanueva conducted the preliminary investigation.

Villanueva ordered Marcelino to show proof that he was on a covert operation when he was arrested but the Army colonel wasn’t immediately able to produce a mission order from the Army or from the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

His preliminary investigation was set on January 27 at 2 p.m.

The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) on Friday denied that Marcelino directly reported to Malacañang.

In a statement released to the media, PAOCC Executive Director Gen. Reginald Villasanta said that Marcelino was not authorized by their group to conduct

a drug operation.

“Lt. Col. Ferdinand Marcelino is not and has never been an operative detailed to the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission,” Villasanta said.

“Our records likewise show that no ongoing PAOCC operations involve Lt. Col. Marcelino,” he added.

Villasanta issued the statement in reaction to reports that Marcelino, who served as director of PDEA’s Special Enforcement Service in the mid-2000s, claimed that he was on official business supposedly under Palace orders when arrested in an apartment in Sta. Cruz, Manila.

Marcelino, a Marine officer, denied his involvement with drug syndicates and illegal operations, saying that he was undertaking a “legitimate intelligence project” to “verify information.”