Solon says VP Sara’s lawyering for detained staff unconstitutional

Rep. Joel Chua —INQUIRER file photo / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

MANILA, Philippines — Manila City 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua on Saturday said that Vice President Sara Duterte’s acting as legal counsel of the detained chief of staff Atty. Zuleika Lopez is against the 1987 Constitution.

“The Constitution does not allow the President, Vice President and the members of the Cabinet to practice their profession,” Chua said in Filipino during a press conference.

“That’s why I don’t know the basis of our vice president for her to say that she stands as the legal counsel of Atty. Lopez,” Chua added in Filipino.

Article VII Section 13 of the Constitution states that “[t]he President, Vice-President, the Members of the Cabinet, and their deputies or assistants shall not, unless otherwise provided in this Constitution, hold any other office or employment during their tenure.”

“They shall not, during said tenure, directly or indirectly, practice any other profession, participate in any business… They shall strictly avoid conflict of interest in the conduct of their office,” the provision added.

House Sergeant-at-arms said that Duterte, who is a lawyer by profession, acted as Lopez’ legal counsel to block the House order from transferring her chief of staff to a women’s prison in Mandaluyong City.

READ: Defying House, VP Sara Duterte refuses to leave detained aide

“The execution of this lawful order was directly obstructed by Vice President Sara Duterte, who took the extraordinary step of introducing herself as Atty. Lopez’ legal counsel and physically intervening to prevent the service of the transfer order,” Taas said in the same press conference.

The detention transfer order on Lopez was issued by Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua, who explained that the directive was due to security reasons.

According to Chua, they received a letter from Rep. Paolo Duterte stating that he allowed his sister to stay in his office and that Vice President Duterte requested that she be permitted to jog within the House premises.

The House committee on good governance and public accountability, which is chaired by Chua, held Lopez in contempt during a hearing on the alleged misuse of public funds by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) under Duterte.

READ: Romualdez calls out VP Sara Duterte: Explain fund use yourself

Previous hearings had been probing the alleged misuse of the confidential funds allocated to the Office of the Vice President (OVP).

A House probe found out that the OVP and the Department of Education submitted about 4,500 of acknowledgement receipts to the Commission on Audit to explain how they used P612.5 million of confidential funds.