Former PDEA official nabbed says he’s doing ‘intelligence work’

Watch: Col Ferdinand Marcelino iginiit na legit ops ang nangyari sa raid sa F Huertas, Sta Cruz Manila pic.twitter.com/sT1YAshUyB

— ruel perez (@iamruelperez) January 21, 2016

A former official of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) who was arrested along with a Chinese national in a drug bust operation in Manila early Thursday said he was conducting a “legitimate intelligence project” when he was caught by authorities.

READ: AFP official, Chinese national nabbed in Manila for P320-M ‘shabu’

Lt. Col. Ferdinand Marcelino, who served as a director of the Special Enforcement Service of PDEA, said that he had no involvement in the illegal drug operation which was busted by the combined elements of PDEA and Philippine National Police at Felix Huertas corner Batangas streets in Sta. Cruz, Manila.

“Wala akong dapat itago, wala akong kasalanan,” Marcelino said while being whisked away from the press after he was presented as a suspect at Camp Crame.

(I have nothing to hide, I have no fault.)

“It’s a legitimate project. It’s an intelligence project. We were there to verify information,” the military official told reporters.

Marcelino also lamented that he was being barred from explaining his side on the issue.

“Pinangalanan ako so karapatan ko rin ipaliwanag ang side ko. Bakit nila kami pinipigilang magpaliwanag?” he said.

(I was named so it is my right to explain my side. Why are they preventing us to explain?)

In an interview which aired on Radyo Inquirer, former PDEA Director General Dionisio Santiago said that he expects government agencies to attest to Marcelino’s active role in busting illegal drug operations in the country.

Santiago said that various drug bust operations, including the arrest of six Chinese nationals in a shabu laboratory in Camiling, Tarlac which yielded P3 billion worth of shabu, were successful due to Marcelino’s participation.

READ: NBI arrests 6 Chinese nationals in drug lab raid

“Maraming operation na siya (Marcelino) ang kumikilos, pero hindi siya pumapapel, yung Tarlac siya ‘yun. Sya ang nagbi-briefing sa presidente ng mga operation niya eh,” the former PDEA chief said.

(There have been many operations where Marcelino took an active role but not he’s showing off. The success of Tarlac operation was due to his efforts. He has been briefing the President about his operations.) With reports from Dona Dominguez-Cargullo and Ruel Perez, Radyo Inquirer/RAM