Vice President Sara Duterte’s chief of staff, Atty. Zuleika Lopez, has been transferred back to the Veterans Memorial Medical Center following a House order.
The order was read yesterday by Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Chief PBGen. Nicolas Torre III in the presence of Duterte and Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City
Lopez hugged the vice president while the transfer order was being read. Duterte accompanied Lopez in the vehicle but declined to comment on the development.
Meanwhile, the Vice President said that Lopez had expressed her desire to resign and she had accepted it.
“She said ‘I want to go home to my mother once this is finished. I will resign. And I will go home to my mother, I just want to be with my mother,” Duterte added.
Lopez was initially detained at the House of Representatives after being cited in contempt and was taken to the VMMC before her transfer to St. Luke’s.
She was brought there past 5:00 a.m. on Saturday, after the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability ordered her transfer to the Women’s Correctional Institution in Mandaluyong City.
According to House sergeant-at-arms retired Police Maj. Gen. Napoleon Taas, a Philippine National Police (PNP) doctor who accompanied Lopez to VMMC reported that medical tests on her revealed no alarming findings, with all results coming back “normal” and she is in “good shape.”
Duterte had earlier accused the House investigation into her confidential funds as “political harassment.”
“You are destroying the names of my colleagues in the Office of the Vice President. You say that these are stolen, that they are confidential funds. You don’t even have proof they are confidential funds,” she said.
A House leader on Saturday urged the public not to be misled by Vice President Sara Duterte’s inflammatory remarks, describing them as a deliberate diversion from allegations of her misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds.
“Let’s not be fooled. The real issue here is the P612.5 million confidential funds that the Vice President needs to explain to the public. We should not resort to diversionary tactics like this,” House Assistant Majority Leader and Zambales Rep. Jefferson Khonghun said.
