Hours after the surrender of Marine Lieutenant Colonel Ferdinand Marcelino, his Chinese companion, Yan Yi Shou, also yielded to authorities.
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said that Shou, who is also known as Randy, surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Tuesday night.
“We are proud to announce that Yan Yi Shuo a.k.a Randy is now under the custody of the NBI. This is a welcome development insofar as our pursuit of this case is concerned,” Aguirre said in a statement.
The secretary said Shou surrendered to the NBI Special Task Force headed by Head Agent Moises Tamayo, which was constituted by NBI Director Dante Gierran to handle delicate missions of similar nature.
Also on Tuesday, Department of Justice (DoJ) prosecutors asked the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 49 to issue a hold departure order (HDO) against the two men.
The state prosecutors sought the HDO after the court issued a warrant of arrest last December 22, 2016 when it found probable cause to indict Marcelino and Shou for possession of illegal drugs under Section 11, Article 11 of Republic Act 9165, also known as the Dangerous Drugs Act.
The two men were arrested by anti-drugs operatives on January 21, 2016 in an abandoned shabu laboratory at the Celadon Residences in Sta. Cruz, Manila, where authorities seized 76,697.7 grams of shabu worth over P380 million.
On May 23, 2016, the DoJ issued a resolution dismissing the cases against the two men for violation of Section 8 (manufacture) in relation to Section 26 (conspiracy to manufacture) and Section 11 (possession of illegal drugs) of Article II of RA 9165.
After the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) filed appeals to reverse the decision, the DoJ backtracked from its ruling and decided to file before the Manila court a drug possession case on September 20, 2016.
APPEAL TO JUNK CASE
Still insisting that he was doing intelligence work when he was arrested in a clandestine drug laboratory, Marcelino asked a Manila court to reverse its ruling and junk the drug case against him.
Through his lawyers from the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO), Marcelino and Shou filed a joint omnibus motion seeking to reverse the December 22 court ruling.
The two accused also asked the court to lift the arrest warrant against them.
“The case filed against them is malicious and motivated by ill-will, a set-up to eliminate them who are at the forefront of the fight against the menace of drugs,” read the motion. (JEFFREY G. DAMICOG)