Vice President Sara Duterte went to the House of Representatives Thursday night to visit her chief-of-staff, Zuleika Lopez, who is detained at the House of Representatives. She stayed at the office of her brother, Davao Rep. Paolo Duterte, House Secretary General Reginald Velasco said Friday.
“Yes, she stayed here. She arrived around 7:40 p.m. They met at the visitors’ center because it is already beyond the regular visiting hours, which is 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.,” Velasco told a radio interview in Tagalog.
“We received a request from the Vice President and we granted it. Her security and advance party were the first to arrive, followed by the Vice President. She was here before 8 p.m.,” he added.
Velasco said the Vice President and the rest of her contingent slept in the House of Representatives, specifically at the Office of Rep. Duterte.
“She coordinated [her visit to Lopez] with us and we provided additional security on top of her security, alerted the nearby Batasan police precinct here and even Quezon City police, in case there are disturbances,” he added.
The Blue Ribbon Committee on Wednesday night cited Lopez for contempt for causing “undue interference” in its investigation into the alleged mishandling of multimillion peso government funds by Vice President Duterte.
The committee, chaired by Manila Rep. Joel Chua, approved a motion by Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro to cite Lopez for contempt, citing her violation of Section 11 (f) of the House Rules of Procedure Governing Inquiries in Aid of Legislation.
As a penalty, the panel approved Castro’s motion to detain Lopez within the premises of the House of Representatives until the next hearing on Nov. 25, instead of imposing the maximum penalty of 10 days of detention.
The contempt charge stemmed from an Aug. 21 letter signed by Lopez and addressed to the Commission on Audit (COA), requesting it to withhold compliance with a House subpoena for audit reports related to the P500-million confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs) under the OVP.
While Lopez claimed the letter was drafted by OVP Assistant Chief of Staff Lemuel Ortonio, she admitted to signing it. Ortonio is among four OVP officials previously cited for contempt and ordered arrested by the panel for refusing to attend the hearings.
