Janet Lim-Napoles, the suspected brains behind a P10-billion pork barrel scam, was transferred to Fort Sto. Domingo in Sta. Rosa, Laguna from the Makati City Jail before dawn Sunday.
Philippine National Police spokesman Senior Superintendent Ruben Theodore Sindac confirmed Napoles' transfer to the facility shortly after 6 a.m.
"Nais ko lang i-confirm ang paglipat ni Janet Lim Napoles from Manila City Jail to Sta. Rosa, Laguna (I confirm Napoles' transfer from Makati City Jail to Sta. Rosa, Laguna)," he said in an interview on dzBB radio.
He did not give further details except that Napoles was moved out of Makati City Jail at 5 a.m. and arrived at Fort Sto. Domingo in Sta. Rosa, Laguna at 6 a.m.
The transfer took place two days after the Makati City regional trial court approved Napoles' transfer to the Laguna facility for security purposes.
Following Napoles' transfer, security was tightened further at the Laguna facility, which also serves as a training ground for the Philippine National Police's elite Special Action Force, radio dzBB's Paulo Santos reported.
Two convoys
At least two groups of vehicles left Makati City Jail for Laguna before dawn Sunday, the second including a PNP minibus.
Both convoys arrived in Sta. Rosa, Laguna before 6 a.m.
First to arrive at the Laguna facility was a group of vehicles that included sport utility vehicle and several vehicles with red government-issued plates.
Many SAF personnel took up positions at Fort Sto. Domingo in full battle gear following the arrival of the vehicles.
On the other hand, a separate convoy that included a PNP minibus and an ambulance left the Makati City Jail at 5 a.m., following hours of preparations, dzBB's Manny Vargas reported.
Predawn preparations
PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima arrived at the Makati City Jail after 4 a.m. His vehicle entered the jail compound. He left before 5 a.m.
Southern Police District head Chief Superintendent Jose Erwin Villacorte and Makati City police chief Senior Superintendent Manuel Lukban Jr. were in the area to oversee the preparations.
Napoles had been the most high-profile inmate at the city jail since Thursday night, when she was brought there on the orders of the Makati regional trial court, where a criminal case of serious illegal detention is pending against Napoles.
She had spent Wednesday night at PNP headquarters in Camp Crame after surrendering to President Benigno Aquino III in Malacañang.
While the Makati court approved her transfer to the Laguna facility Friday, the transfer did not push through Saturday.
Napoles was tagged as the brains behind a P10-billion pork barrel scam, where she allegedly set up fake non-government organizations to siphon Priority Development Assistance Funds of lawmakers.
The extent of the scam triggered outrage from people who demanded the abolition of the pork barrel system.
But while President Aquino had said it is time to abolish the PDAF, he called for a mechanism to replace it.