Marcelino, the man who captured Alabang Boys

MANILA, Philippines - Up to the time of his arrest yesterday in Sta. Cruz, Manila in the company of a suspected Chinese drug supplier, Marine Lt. Col. Ferdinand Marcelino was known as the intrepid drugbuster who led high-profile drug stings and arrests.

In fact, police and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) operatives who launched yesterday’s raid on a suspected drug laboratory were initially confused on seeing him in the wrong place and in the wrong company. Some of them had even thought he was part of the operation.

His name first hogged the headlines on Sept. 19, 2008  after he led the arrest of the so-called “Alabang Boys” –Joseph Tecson, Richard Brodett and Jorge Joseph – for alleged drug possession and sale during buy-bust operations.

Marcelino said the three were arrested one after another for possession and sale of some 60 Ecstasy tablets, packets of marijuana and sachets of cocaine.

The Marine officer, who led the undercover agents, arrested Brodett and Joseph in Ayala Alabang Village in Muntinlupa City, while Tecson was nabbed in a follow-up operation at the Araneta Center in Quezon City.

About three months later or on Dec. 2, the Department of Justice (DOJ) dismissed the case against the “Alabang boys” supposedly for lack of probable cause.

Records showed Marcelino later exposed alleged bribery where “P50 million changed hands” for the release of the suspects, who at the time were still in police custody.

He said the first bribery attempt was made on the day of the arrest, with P3 million directly offered to him by people close to the group.

Then president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the DOJ to require “all officials and prosecutors” accused of receiving bribes to take a leave of absence.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), meanwhile, failed to find “convincing evidence” to support his accusation.

Marcelino belonged to the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Bantay-Laya Class 1994.

In an interview with reporters at Camp Crame where he was taken after his arrest, Marcelino denied being involved in illegal drug activities, claiming he was on a mission against drug syndicates.

Hands off

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), meanwhile, said it is taking a hands-off policy on Marcelino’s arrest.

Col. Noel Detoyato, AFP Public Affairs Office chief, said the military leadership will let the law take its course on the Marine officer’s case.

“PDEA and the PNP will have our full cooperation,” Detoyato said when asked about the AFP’s stand on Marcelino’s case.

He stressed the AFP would never condone any wrongdoing of any its officers and men.

“We are just hoping that due process will be observed in the case of Col. Marcelino. That’s our stand on this matter for now,” Detoyato said.

Marcelino’s vigorous anti-drug operations had earned him and his family the ire of big time drug lords in the country.

His former boss, ex-PDEA director and retired AFP chief Dionisio Santiago, described Marcelino as an incorruptible officer.

Following his stint at the anti-drug agency, Marcelino returned to his mother unit the Navy and assumed various assignments until he was named group commander of the Military Intelligence Group-4 (MIG-4) of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) in 2014.

At the time of his arrest, Marcelino was the newly designated superintendent of the Naval Officer Candidate School (NOCS) stationed at the Naval Education Training Command (NETC) in San Antonio, Zambales.

Marcelino got his latest Navy assignment after completing his Command and General Staff Course (CGSC) studies at Camp Aguinaldo.