Lanete seeks Sandigan's nod to spend Christmas, birthday in HK

Former Masbate governor and representative Rizalina Seachon-Lanete has sought the approval of the Sandiganbayan for her six-day trip to Hong Kong amid court proceedings in connection with her pork barrel scam case.

Lanete, through her lawyers, filed a motion for leave to travel abroad at the Fourth Division. She said she intends to travel to Hong Kong from December 22 to 27.

Lanete said the trip is meant to celebrate her 67th birthday and Christmas with her children and grandchildren.

She assured the court of her return to the Philippines despite supposed threats to her life and face the charges against her, citing her relatives in government and her properties in Masbate City.

Lanete said she will see the end of her plunder and graft cases after the Sandiganbayan allowed her to post an P830,000 bail bond in 2016 due to the prosecution's supposed failure to present strong evidence of guilt.

“Accused Lanete has fought this hard and this long to clear her name and to win her temporary freedom. She will not back down now. She will see these cases through the very end,” a portion of Lanete's motion read.

Lanete allegedly received P108.4 million-worth of kickbacks for allowing the allocation of her Priority Development Assistance Fund or pork barrel to fake non-government organizations allegedly owned by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.

The Ombudsman had said that P112.29 million of Lanete's PDAF during her term as Masbate representative was allocated to the Napoles-linked foundations from 2007 to 2009. —KBK, GMA News