The House of Representatives Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, also known as the Blue Ribbon Committee, on Monday approved a motion to extend the detention of Office of the Vice President (OVP) Chief of Staff and Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez from five to 10 days.
Lopez was cited in contempt for her “undue interference” in the congressional inquiry into the alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds allocated to the OVP and the Department of Education (DepEd) under Vice President Sara Duterte.
Initially ordered detained for five days following the November 20 hearing, Lopez will now remain in detention until November 30.
House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro, who filed the motion, described Lopez’s actions as a clear attempt to obstruct the investigation.
“By virtue of her conduct, the committee was deprived of invaluable information necessary to allow it to perform its role of crafting legislation for the improvement of the country’s system of governance and transparency,” Castro said.
Committee chairperson and Manila Rep. Joel Chua approved the motion after it was seconded and faced no objections.
Lopez only attended the November 20 hearing after being subpoenaed. Before her appearance, she and other officials from the OVP and DepEd had repeatedly ignored invitations to participate in the inquiry.
Castro highlighted Lopez’s admission that she wrote to the Commission on Audit (COA) in an attempt to suppress the release of critical documents. She also accused Duterte’s chief of staff of spreading false narratives about her detention, particularly claims that she was harassed while in custody at the House of Representatives.
House Sergeant-at-Arms Napoleon Taas has since denied Lopez’s allegations as baseless.
Lopez was originally detained at the House Custodial Center but was later moved to the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon City after a health episode. House Secretary General Reginald Velasco then ordered that she remain at VMMC on humanitarian grounds.
