Category: Illegal Drugs

The Marine who said ‘No’

Published by Ellen on January 26, 2016

This article was first published on January 18, 2009. We are re-posting this as Lt. Col Ferdinand Marcelino is again in the news after he was arrested in a drug bust operation last Jan. 21. Marcelino says his presence in the shabu den was a legal operation. His lawyer said it was a “frameup”

By Ellen Tordesillas, VERA Files

THE soldier who stirred a hornet’s nest by accusing Department of Justice officials of bribery in the so-called “Alabang Boys” case could have been a millionaire by now.

Marine Maj. Ferdinand Marcelino, chief of the Special Enforcement Service of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, has experienced being bribed by smugglers, politicians and drug dealers in his 14-year career as a military officer.

But Marcelino, who belongs to the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1994, said he has made it a point to give back the thick envelopes stuffed with cash, and was not even curious enough to count the money and see how much he is worth.

Sana magkaroon ng katuturan ang pagpalaya sa Alabang Boys

Published by Ellen on August 28, 2011

Santiago and Marcelino: a good team at PDEA

Maayos naman ang mga reaksyun ng dating hepe ng Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency na si Dionisio Santiago at ni Marine Major Ferdinand Marcelino ng dating hepe ng PDEA Special Enforcement Service sa pagpawalang sala sa dalawa sa tatlong akusado sa grupong tinagurian ng media na “Alabang Boys.”

Pinalaya na sina Jorge Joseph at Richard Brodett , kabilang sa mga mayayaman na pamilya,pagkatapos ma- absuwelto ng Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Judge Juanita Guerrero ng paglabag ng Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act ng 2002.

Maala-ala na nahuli sila sa isang buy-bust operation na nagbe-benta ng shabu sa ahente ng PDEA noong Septyembre 20, 2008 sa Ayala Alabang, tirahang eksklusibo para sa mga mayayaman. Ang isa pa nilang kasama na si Joseph Tecson ay nahuli sa magkaibang operasyun sa Quezon City. Naghihintay na rin ng desisyun ng korte si Tecson.

‘Alabang Boys’ acquitted on technicality

Published by Ellen on August 26, 2011

Joseph and Brodett — Jorge Joseph and Richard Brodett. Photo from the Inquirer

By Marlon Ramos, Miko Morelos
Philippine Daily Inquirer

A “glaring blunder” in the handling of evidence has led to the acquittal of two of the so-called “Alabang Boys” arrested in 2008 for the alleged possession and sale of 60 “ecstasy” tablets.

“That (breach) in the chain of custody of evidence became a fatal flaw,” Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said Friday after a Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court judge dismissed the charges against Richard Brodett and Jorge Joseph, citing the prosecution’s failure to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

Relatives of the two young men gave out a whoops of relief and joy after the court handed down the verdict, ending a two-year, 11-month legal battle marked by charges of bribery and the intervention at one point of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Of Azkals and Pusakals

Published by Ellen on July 24, 2011

Never mind the 3-0 score. What was amazing in Kuwait last Saturday was OFW power for the Azkals.

The photos posted by “Pamatay Homesick” in his Facebook Wall give us an exhilarating feeling.

Filipinos in Kuwait came in droves, most probably took a day off from work, to give moral support to the team that is now giving Filipinos a new sense of pride.

“Pamatay Homesick”, an interior designer and project design coordinator, posted on his FB wall: “Binabati ko ang lahat, sa matagumpay na kaganapan sa larong football dito sa kuwait.Natalo man ang ating Azkals, nakita ko naman ang pagsasama sama ng ating mga kababayan dito sa kuwait.Mabuhay!”

He added: “Kahit tayo ay nasawi, tayo parin ang nagwagi!”

That’s the attitude.

The Azkals have already achieved something priceless – making Filipinos proud of being Filipino. That, by itself, is already a score.

Media’s skewed coverage of execution of Filipino drug mules

Published by Ellen on April 1, 2011

A relative of one of the executed drug mule in China, snapped at a journalist at the airport,”Are you happy with what you are doing?”

Noli de Castro and other broadcasters and journalists who feasted on this story of the drug mules should answer that.

In my prayers for the families of Sally Ordinario-Villanueva, Ramon Credo and Elizabeth Batain for strength as they try to cope with the loss of their loved ones, I also ask that God touches the conscience of TV networks personalities who sensationalized the deaths of the three to boost their ratings.

The networks obviously wanted to replicate a Flor Contemplacion situation, a media event in 1995 that violated all rules of journalism, ignoring the facts of the case and reported based on emotions.

Continue readingMedia’s skewed coverage of execution of Filipino drug mules

Stop giving false hopes

Published by Ellen on March 17, 2011

It’s not surprising that China, after giving in to the request of President Aquino to spare the three Filipinos in the death row for drug trafficking, has decided to push through with the execution.

Chinese Ambassador Liu Jianchao said in a press conference the death sentence on Ramon Credo, Sally Ordinario-Villanueva and Elizabeth Batain “will be carried out sooner or later, and everything will be done in accordance with Chinese laws.”

The date of the execution will be announced by the Supreme Court of Justice in China,” Liu said.

In Malacañang, Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said “we would still try to appeal.”

Was Lacierda serious or was he saying this just for PR purposes? They should stop giving false hope to the public, especially the family.

Spratlys in exchange for free freedom of drug mules?

Published by Ellen on February 20, 2011

I’m trying hard to understand why reason seem to have left the Aquino government in the case of the Filipinos who are in China’s death row for drug trafficking.

Aquino sent Vice President Jejomar Binay to Beijing last week to appeal to the leadership to spare the lives of Ramon Credo, 42, Sally Villanueva, 32, and Elizabeth Batain, 38, who were scheduled to be executed by lethal injection today.

The three were sentenced to death for smuggling 4 kilograms to 6.8 kilograms of heroin to in 2008. They were originally five but diplomatic sources said further investigations showed that the two had minor roles in the drug syndicate than the three.

Prosecution flaws bog down fight vs drugs

Published by Ellen on January 28, 2011

By IBARRA C. MATEO AND YVONNE T. CHUA
VERA Files

Cai Qing HaiFOR many years, Chinese national Cai Qing Hai had been on the list of Asia’s “most wanted drug manufacturers and traffickers,” with law enforcers from three countries—the Philippines, China and Malaysia—hot on his trail.

Cai was no ordinary drug dealer. He headed a transnational syndicate which Chinese authorities said produced 1.7 tons of methamphetamine hydrocloride or “shabu” in the three countries. He was also slippery prey—in 2005, he escaped prison by bribing his jailers in Malaysia just as they were about to hand him over to Chinese law enforcers. Cai then fled to Manila, which he has considered his second home since he was 13.

In October 2007, Philippine anti-narcotics agents caught up with Cai, then 36 and using the alias Bruce Esteban Ong, in his clandestine shabu laboratory in Sta Cruz, Laguna. They thought they had helped put an end to the activities of one of Asia’s most dangerous men.

Sanga-sangang problema dahil sa palpak na desisyon sa trahedya ng Agosto 23

Published by Ellen on December 12, 2010

Sinabi ni Pangulong Aquino sa Inquirer na kaya daw yumuko ang Pilipinas sa kagustuhan ng China na boykotin ang awarding ceremonies ng prestihoso na Nobel Peace Prize sa Intsik na aktibista na si Liu Xiaobo ay dahil daw sa limang Pilipino na nasa death row sa China.

Nilalakad kasi ng Pilipinas na salbahin ang limang Pilipino na yun sa kamatayan.

Dalawang rason pa ang sinabi niya: ang Agosto 23 na trahedya at ang girian ng South at North Korea dahil may 50,000 na Pilipino raw sa South Korea.

Hayaan na natin ang away ng South Korea at North Korea. Sobrang malayo na yun sa isyu na ito.

Is Aquino saying that protection of drug traffickers is national interest?

Published by Ellen on December 12, 2010

There is something wrong here.

President Aquino said the Philippine government boycotted the awarding of the Nobel peace prize to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo in exchange for the freedom of five Filipinos in the death row in China for drug trafficking.

Are we condoning drug trafficking?

What happens now to our own fight against illegal drugs? If we ask foreign governments to relax their laws against Filipinos involved in trafficking of illegal drugs, have we the right to be hard on other nationalities involved in drug trafficking in our own country?