DOJ eyes Marcelino’s transfer to another custody

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday proposed the transfer of the custody of Marine Lt. Col. Ferdinand Marcelino to either the Philippine Navy (PN) or the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

The DOJ said through Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Theodore Villanueva’s two-page letter that it is proposing the immediate transfer of Marcelino from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) for safety and security reasons.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines earlier requested custody over Marcelino to also ensure his safety.

READ: AFP wants custody of Marcelino

Villanueva, head of the DOJ Task Force focusing on illegal drug cases, said that Marcelino can also be placed under the custody of the PN since it earlier expressed readiness to take the accused.

On January 21, Marcelino and his Chinese interpreter, Yan Yi Shou, were arrested in a drug bust operation on a suspected shabu laboratory in Sta. Cruz, Manila. He is now under the custody of police Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (AIDG) in Camp Bagong Diwa of the BJMP.

Marcelino, a former director of the Special Enforcement Service of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, was charged by his fellow anti-narcotics authorities before the DOJ.

Marcelino’s camp requested 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 in Camp Crame, Quezon City to the BJMP's Quezon City Jail Annex Detention Center in Taguig City.