Ex-PDEA agent Marcelino undergoes inquest for drug charges

Lt. Col. Ferdinand Marcelino, the military official arrested in Thursday's anti-illegal drug raid in Manila, underwent inquest proceedings on Friday at the Department of Justice (DOJ), according to Cedric Castillo's report on "Balitanghali."

The report quoted Sr. Supt. Antonio Gardiola Jr. of the police Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (AIDG) as saying that Marcelino is facing charges of manufacture, conspiracy to manufacture, and possession of illegal drugs.

All are non-bailable offense, the report said.

Marcelino, who once served as director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), spent the night at Camp Crame. He was brought to the DOJ past 11 a.m.

Marcelino was arrested together with Chinese national Yan Yi Shou, whom the AIDG considered as a "high-value target," the report said. Yan too underwent inquest proceedings on Friday for the same charges.

A Marine official, Marcelino has denied involvement in the illegal drug trade, saying he was performing surveillance work when arrested in a suspected shabu lab in Manila on Thursday.

"This is the price I have to pay for my love of this country," an emotional Marcelino told reporters on Friday.

After the proceedings, Marcelino and Yan were brought back to Camp Crame for additional processing and medical checkup, the report said. They may be detained at a Bureau of Jail Management and Penology facility in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig.

The report quoted Gardiola as saying that they were not aware of Marcelino's presence in the suspected shabu lab when they conducted the raid together with PDEA agents.

He also denied that Marcelino is being framed up. —KBK, GMA News