VP Duterte’s attendance in NBI investigation still unclear

Vice President Sara Z. Duterte —Inquirer photo/Niño Jesus Orbeta

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte on Saturday said that she is still unsure if she can attend the investigation of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) after it was rescheduled.

Duterte said that aside from her schedules changing day by day, she considers what her lawyers advise her to do.

“I’ll have to run my schedule day by day kasi nagbabago siya ngayon araw-araw dahil bigla na lang may nangyayari na mga bagay kaya hindi ko magawa ’yung mga schedule ko nang malayo pa (I’ll have to run my schedule day by day because it changes every day because of sudden commitments, that’s why I can’t determine if I can commit to other schedules.),” Duterte said in an ambush interview at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City.

READ: VP Sara Duterte no-show at NBI, asks for rescheduling

“Di ko pa masagot kung pupunta ako sa December 11 saka ang isang consideration dyan, sinusunod ko kung ano ‘yung utos ng mga lawyers (I can’t answer if I can go on December 11 because another consideration here is I follow what my lawyers ask me to do.),” Duterte added.

Duterte failed to appear before the NBI on Friday due to a schedule mix-up and instead asked her lawyer for a reschedule.

NBI Director Jaime Santiago said in a press conference on Friday that Duterte was informed late that her appearance in a House panel hearing was cancelled.

READ: Four OVP execs cited for contempt show up at House hearing

The NBI issued a subpoena to Duterte over her remarks to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

Santiago then said that Duterte will be required to appear before the NBI on Wednesday, December 11.

Meanwhile, Duterte shared that she will attend the next House probe into the alleged misuse of the confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President (OVP).

“Yes, nag-express ’yung tatlong mga resource persons from the Office of the Vice President na they really feel safer and medyo kumakalma sila kung andyan ako (Yes, the three resource persons from the Office of the Vice President expressed that they feel safer and calmer when I am there.),” Duterte noted.

She also said that Atty. Zuleika Lopez, chief of staff and the undersecretary of the OVP, is set to take an indefinite leave from her post in the office once she gets cleared from the hospital.

Lopez, who was hospitalized at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center, already left the hospital premises around 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.

“Ang worry ko lang right now, wala na kaming chief of staff. Affected din yung assistant chief of staff office kaya ako na lang talaga yung naiwan sa opisina to do everything (My worry now is that we don’t have a chief of staff. Our assistant chief of staff office is also affected. That’s why I am left in the office to do everything.),” she noted.

The House committee on good governance and public accountability on Saturday ordered the release of Lopez after her 10-day detention period. Lopez was held in contempt during a hearing on the alleged misuse of public funds by the OVP under Sara Duterte.

House Sergeant-at-arms Napoleon Taas previously said that Duterte “physically” blocked the order to transfer Lopez from the House detention to a women’s correctional facility in Mandaluyong City.