Court to rule on Marcelino bail plea

MANILA, Philippines - The Quezon City regional trial court is set to rule on the bail petition filed by Lt. Col. Ferdinand Marcelino and Chinese Yan Yi Shuo.

Judge Lyn Ebora-Cacha of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 82 yesterday submitted for resolution the bail petition filed in February by the camp of Marcelino and Shuo pending the results of a preliminary investigation by the Department of Justice.

The two were reportedly caught by local police and operatives from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) at an alleged drug den in Sta. Cruz, Manila on Jan. 21.

Marcelino, a former PDEA official, was supposedly found by operatives sitting on a couch while Shuo was on the second floor of the townhouse where around 76 kilos of shabu, worth over P383 million, were seized.

The lead counsel for Marcelino and the city prosecutor’s office also summarized their arguments during yesterday’s hearing.

Ebora-Cacha earlier ordered the transfer of Marcelino and his co-accused to the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame on Feb. 19, citing security reasons.

The two were initially detained at the Quezon City Jail Annex in Camp Bagong Diwa following their arrest.