Sara Duterte’s chief of staff given last chance to skip House probe

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte’s chief of staff, Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez, was given a last chance to skip the congressional probe into the alleged misuse of public funds in the Office of the Vice President (OVP).

During the hearing of the House committee on good government and public accountability on Monday, lawmakers agreed to exclude Lopez from the list of OVP officials who were cited for contempt for not showing up at the inquiry despite summons.

Lopez informed the House panel through a letter that she would not be able to attend the hearing due to a medical emergency involving her sick aunt in the United States. The committee acknowledged her excuse for humanitarian reasons.

READ: OVP confirms overseas travel of Usec Lopez, says trip is personal

Deputy Speaker David Suarez, who moved to cite four OVP officials for contempt, said he agrees with Santa Rosa City Rep. Dan Fernandez’s belief that Lopez’s presence and testimony would be crucial to the investigation. He said extending some understanding to Lopez would not hurt.

“Actually, I am also one with the position of Congressman Fernandez, given that the committee has already exercised patience and understanding in these resource persons.  I mean let us not forget Mr. Chair that these are public officials, they are required to attend to explain how funds were spent,” Suarez said.

“However, in the same way Mr. Chair, when I was reading the letter of Atty. Zuleika Lopez, the reason for her absence that she mentioned was an appeal of her aunt to accompany her while she was hospitalized in another country.  And because we all have families, because of humanitarian reasons, and you know maybe we can extend a little bit more our understanding,” he added.

Suarez, however, stressed that the consideration of Lopez’s absence would last only until before the next House committee hearing.

“We can accept the letter of Attorney Zuleika Lopez, but only until our next committee hearing, Mr. Chair.  I am a reasonable person, but of course there are limits.  But if an individual is facing a reason that she cannot avoid for now, maybe she would no longer have any reason why she would not attend the next hearing,” Suarez noted.

Fernandez, meanwhile, still questioned the consideration given to Lopez, asking whether she is the only remaining relative of her aunt.

“As much as I wanted to believe her excuse, no? But I think her aunt that is living in the United States can possibly stand on her own, especially (considering) the healthcare system of the United States.  And the testimony of Ms. Zuleika Lopez is so crucial in this investigation. And if we’re going to allow this excuse of her, then other resource persons might follow,” Fernandez said.

“Because I find this document from Lopez funny.  Is she the only niece of her aunt?  Does she have no other nephew or niece to attend to her, no spouse to send because we are tackling so many issues about her, and this is a clear evasion, this letter is not justified,” he also said.

Earlier, Suarez moved to cite for contempt the following OVP officials:

• Lemuel Ordonio – Assistant Chief of Staff and Chair of the Bids and Awards Committee
• Gina Acosta – Special Disbursing Officer
• Sunshine Fajarda – former Department of Education (DepEd) Assistant Secretary
• Edward Fajarda – former DepEd official

READ: OVP execs who skipped House probe cited for contempt, ordered arrested

Antipolo 2nd District Rep. Romeo Acop then moved to issue a detention order against the four, with the period of detention lasting until the committee finalizes its report.

This is not the first time that Lopez and the other OVP officials were mentioned during the committee hearings. Last September 25, former education official Gloria Jumamil Mercado testified that envelopes containing money — supposedly from Vice President Sara Duterte who previously served as chief of the Department of Education (DepEd) in concurrent capacity — may have been meant to influence her as she used to lead DepEd’s procurement division.

According to Mercado, the cash envelopes were handed to her by DepEd Assistant Secretary Sunshine Fajarda.

Mercado likewise said Duterte’s chief of staff — Lopez — asked her to resign from office after she raised several concerns regarding the agency’s procurement under its computerization program.

But Duterte dismissed Mercado’s statements, saying the former DepEd undersecretary was just a disgruntled employee who made unauthorized solicitations of money from private companies. Mercado disputed Duterte’s accusations against her.

The House committee on good government and public accountability has been investigating allegations of public fund misuse in the OVP and DepEd under Sara Duterte — including supposed irregularities in confidential fund expenditures.

The Commission on Audit (COA) has handed out a notice of disallowance against P73.2 million of the OVP’s P125 million confidential funds for 2022 — an item that several lawmakers said should not be available in the first place, as the original budget crafted during the time of former Vice President Leni Robredo did not include any confidential funds.

The observation prompted the House committee to check on the issues surrounding the OVP’s budget utilization.

No less than House Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe previously said that Duterte may be held liable for graft if she cannot explain how the public funds were spent, particularly regarding items with adverse findings from the COA.