DOJ to hear gun raps vs Marcelino tomorrow
The Department of Justice (DOJ) will start tomorrow the preliminary investigation on the charges of illegal possession of firearms and violation of election gun ban filed against Marine Lt. Col. Ferdinand Marcelino, an official said yesterday.
Assistant State Prosecutor Mike Humarang said the Philippine National Police Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (PNP-AIDG) filed the charges against Marcelino following his arrest in a raid on a shabu storage facility in Sta. Cruz, Manila last month.
Marcelino has been transferred from the Quezon City jail annex at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig to the PNP Custodial Center at Camp Crame.
The PNP-AIDG said Marcelino violated the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulations Act after verifying that the license of the gun found in his possession during the raid had expired.
Marcelino also failed to present a certificate of gun ban exemption in violation of the Omnibus Election Code, the PNPAIDG said.
Marcelino, a former official of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), is facing separate charges of conspiracy in the manufacture and possession of illegal drugs under Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Marcelino and Chinese Yan Yi Shuo were nabbed when operatives of the PNPAIDG and PDEA raided a shabu storage facility on Jan. 21.
Police recovered 64 kilos of shabu worth P256 million during the raid.
The former PDEA official was found sitting in a couch when the raiders arrived.
Marcelino has denied the charges and claimed that he was on a mission to go after drug lords as a member of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
He earlier submitted to the DOJ a certification from the Philippine Army’s Intelligence and Security Group showing he has information on the alleged involvement of Army personnel in the illegal drug trade from September to December last year.
Senior Deputy Prosecutor Theodore Villanueva will hold a final hearing on Feb. 26 before submitting the case for resolution.