MANILA -- Masbate Governor Rizalina Seachon-Lanete will be detained at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) female dormitory in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City, where two other accused in the pork barrel scam are detained.
Lanete surrendered to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) last Wednesday, hours after she was ordered arrested by the Sandiganbayan fourth division for her alleged involvement in the pork barrel scam.
Janet Napoles, the scam's alleged mastermind, and lawyer Jessica Lucila "Gigi" Reyes, a former aide of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, who are facing plunder charges over the pork barrel scam are also detained in Taguig jail.
Lanete is facing plunder and 11 counts of graft related to the scam.
The cases stemmed from the Ombudsman complaint accusing the former Masbate congresswoman of pocketing P108.405 million for allowing her Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel to be allocated to the fake non-government organizations of Napoles from 2004 to 2010.
Lanete earlier asked the court to allow her to join Senators Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr. in the Philippine National Police custodial center in Camp Crame, Quezon City due to alleged threats to her life.
In a three-page motion, Jose Flaminiano, Lanete's legal counsel, said the Masbate governor continues to receive death threats since 2005.
"Lanete respectfully submits that, under the circumstances, her life can best be secured at PNP Custodial Center, which is a well-guarded compound located within the safe walls of Camp Crame," the motion said.
The motion also listed several assassination attempts on Lanete and several members of her family.
In 2004, Lanete survived an ambush in Matugnao, Palanas town in Masbate when she was then campaigning for congressional seat.
Lanete's brother, former Masbate representative Fausto Seachon Jr., also survived an ambush but one of his companions was killed.
Seachon, however, was killed outside his house in Caloocan City in 2005.
Lanete's son, Mayor Joshua Judd Lanete II, survived when his political enemies in Masbate shot him in 2007.
In 2011, unidentified gunmen fired shots at a convoy carrying Lanete at the vicinity of Pio Corpus town.
In January this year, Lanete said a policeman pointed a rifle at her and her son Mayor Joshua Judd Lanete II in Cebu during the Sinulog festival.
Lanete's camp also submitted a confidential threat assessment report saying that the "long time" dispute between Lanete and former Masbate congressman Antonio Kho had not been settled.
"There is a strong possibility that political vendetta might crop up, which possessed threat to her life, and the same cannot be discounted," the February 19 report read. (Sunnex)