Sara Duterte visits detained chief of staff, spends night at House

FILE PHOTO: Vice President Sara Duterte. INQUIRER / RICHARD A. REYES

LEGAZPI, Albay — Vice President Sara Duterte went to the House of Representatives on Thursday night to visit her chief of staff, Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez, and spent the night in her brother’s office.

Secretary General Reginald Velasco disclosed this information during a phone interview with reporters covering the House on Friday morning, adding that Duterte stayed with Lopez until the end of visiting hours at 10:00 p.m.

Lopez was ordered detained at the House after being cited for contempt by the House committee on good government and public accountability, which has been investigating how the Office of the Vice President utilized public funds under Duterte’s watch amid allegations of misuse.

READ: House panel moves to cite OVP exec Lopez for contempt

Eventually, the vice president spent the night in the office of Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte, according to Velasco.

“Natuloy ‘yon (It went on), the VP arrived around 7:40 [p.m.] at the premises, and we allowed her to visit Atty. Lopez doon sa visitor’s center, where they both stayed there until around 10:00 p.m.  After 10 [p.m.], when they were informed that the visiting hours were over, the VP decided to go to the office of the Congressman from Davao, Congressman Pulong Duterte,” Velasco said.

“And from then on, she stayed there sa office ni Cong. Duterte. Until now nando’n siya (she’s there),” he added.  “Anyway, our security are in contact with the security personnel of the VP para malaman kung ano’ng plano niya (to know her plans).”

Last Wednesday, the House committee on good government and public accountability cited Lopez for contempt, as lawmakers found her committing undue interference in the panel’s hearings.

READ: House probe retraces bulk withdrawals of OVP confidential funds

Lopez was ordered detained at the House premises for five days or until the next hearing on Monday, November 25.

It was ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro who moved to hold Lopez in contempt due to the OVP official’s letter to the Commission on Audit (COA), where she asked the agency to refrain from giving the House its audit observations on the confidential funds (CF) expenses of the OVP.

Castro believes that Lopez and the OVP were ordering COA, which would have prevented the House from scrutinizing the OVP’s transactions using public money.

The motion for a contempt citation against Lopez was duly seconded and approved by the panel chairperson, Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua.

Before Castro issued the motion, lawmakers were already frustrated with Lopez, as she insisted that there were matters in the OVP that she was not privy to despite being Vice President Sara Duterte’s chief-of-staff.

Lopez appealed for the reconsideration of the contempt order against her, apologizing to Castro and noting that the letter to COA was just a request. Castro then said there were other issues to consider — like Lopez being evasive in her answers to lawmakers’ questions.

Before Lopez was cited for contempt, Deputy Speaker David Suarez asked Lopez why she did not insist on knowing about the OVP’s secret fund transactions when it was she who wrote the response to different letters and summons regarding the issue, including the OVP’s reply to COA’s audit observation memorandum (AOM).

Antipolo 2nd District Rep. Romeo Acop expressed the same observations – that Lopez’s letters to COA show that she knows the ins and outs of OVP’s CF transactions.

Acop also said he believes Lopez is lying because it appeared she was knowledgeable of the OVP’s transactions involving confidential funds.