MANILA — Marynette Gamboa, former mayor of Dingras in Ilocos Norte, was arrested on Saturday in Laguna for murder charges, police said.

Gamboa, deemed second most wanted person in the Ilocos Norte province, stands accused of being the mastermind of Lorenzo Rey Ruiz's death in 2009.

Ruiz was president of locos Norte Electric Cooperative at the time.

The Regional Trial Court in Batac City, Ilocos Norte on July 11, 2022 ordered Gamboa's arrest, with no bail recommended.

• Dating alkalde ng Ilocos Norte, timbog sa kasong murder

Gamboa is also the "alleged mastermind in the ambush of Dingras mayor-elect Jeffrey Saguid and Sangguniang Panlalawigan board member Robert Castro in December also in 2009," a report from the National Capital Region Police Office showed.

The former mayor earlier said some powerful politicians in Ilocos Norte wanted her removed from her post.

• Ilocos Norte town mayor steps down

More details to follow.