Marine Col. Marcelino emotional in facing CA for promotion

Marine Colonel Ferdinand Marcelino became emotional Wednesday when he faced the Commission on Appointments for the confirmation of his promotion after he was asked to recall his arrest and detention for more than a year over a now dismissed drug charges.

Marcelino’s voice cracked and it took him a minute to speak again when Representative Raul del Mar questioned him on the matter.

“Why it took so long for you to be given justice,” asked Del Mar, to which Marcelino replied that the case was heard in two separate courts and the justice system in the country is really slow.

“‘That experience has been… Pasensiya na kayo, sir, pag naalala ko nagiging emotional ako. Hindi kasi madaling makulong when [you] did not do anything wrong. Bakit nga ba ako nagtagal sa kulungan, mabagal po kasi talaga ang justice system natin. In fact, when I was in jail, I met a  lot of people nandun na sila 5 to 10 years. Siguro nga masuwerte pa ako kasi almost 1 year lang ako e,” the Marine officer said.

He maintained that the charges filed against him were fabricated.

Col. Ferdinand Marcelino, facing CA, became emotional narrating what happened to him when he was jailed over now dismissed drug charges @gmanews @gmanewsbreaking pic.twitter.com/hvYPffSHPt

— Amita O. Legaspi (@amitalegaspi) February 6, 2019

He said the experience was bad not only for him but for his family, and he thanked his colleagues in the Armed Forces for not leaving him.

“I cannot thank enough my senior officers in the Armed Forces, na ‘yung iba andito ngayon, for continuing to trust me, giving me a break again in the Armed Forces despite what happened,” he said.

Marcelino said he initially thought of not returning to the military after his release from prison but he changed his mind.

“‘Yung nangyari is a big awakening, learning experience not only as a person but moreso as a military officer. In fact, pag labas ng kulungan sabi ko  aalis na siguro ako sa military but at the outset parang it also made  me realize na yung pagiging military parang calling na siguro,” he said.

He broke into tears recalling his nights in the jail.

“Thinking ‘yung mga gabi, yung mga oras na nasa loob ka ng kulungan pwede kang mamatay na dun,” he said.

Marcelino added that he will just continue what he is doing as long as he will be  able to do so.

Marcelino, then still a lieutenant colonel, and his Chinese companion Yan Yi Shou, were caught during a raid in a shabu laboratory in Sta. Cruz, Manila in January 2016.

He claimed he was performing surveillance work when arrested for possession of 76.7 kilograms of shabu and 490 milliliters of liquid shabu. Yan, on the other hand, said he was acting as an "action agent," which was denied by PDEA.

They were detained until a Manila court ordered their release after the Department of Justice withdrew charges against them in 2017.

Yi Shuo Yan was killed in August 2018 by riding-in-tandem assailants after stepping out of detention in Manila.

The CA national defense committee recommended the confirmation of Marcelino, together with 41 other military officers. The will be affirmed by the CA in a plenary session later in the day. — RSJ, GMA News