House leaders are resorting to extreme measures to compel real or imagined staff members of Vice President Sara Duterte to appear before an investigating panel.
In a press conference on Monday, the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability warned that it would order the arrest of Duterte’s chief of staff, lawyer Zuleika Lopez if she continues to snub the panel’s summons.
However, lawmakers still expressed hope that Lopez would show up voluntarily to shed light on the alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential and intelligence funds of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) under Duterte.
Committee vice chairman Rep. Jay Khonghun of Zambales said they have information that the OVP official has already returned from the United States, where she attended to an emergency involving her aunt.
“The committee received information that she [Lopez] is back [from the U.S]. So we expect her to attend on Wednesday because she has been sent a subpoena,” Khonghun said in Filipino.
“So, we expect that she will comply with the committee’s invitation and show up, at least to clarify the expenses of the OVP related to the confidential fund,” he added.
For his part, Deputy Majority Leader Paolo Ortega V of La Union reminded Lopez that she promised to honor the committee’s repeated invitation when she returned from her U.S. trip.
“In her reply letter, she indicated that she will be back…on [the] 14th of [November]. She needs to honor that because she is very important in these hearings… she was the one releasing (the confidential funds,” he stressed.
Last week, the Good Government and Public Accountability panel cited four OVP officers for contempt, ordering their arrest and detention for repeatedly defying subpoenas.
Lopez got a reprieve due to her absence from the country, with the committee giving her a last chance to show up on Wednesday or face the same penalty as her colleagues.
Meanwhile, lawmakers offered a P1-million reward for information on “Mary Grace Piattos,” a signatory in Duterte’s supposedly suspicious liquidation documents.
“We in the Blue Ribbon Committee and Quad Committee, we give importance that those we summoned must come, especially those who signed the acknowledgment receipts,” Khonghun said.
“So we [the committee] talked and agreed that, voluntarily, we will give a reward of P1 million to anyone who can tell or provide information on Mary Grace Piattos,” he added.
Khonghun and Ortega noted that the name “Mary Grace Piattos” appears to be a combination of a local restaurant chain and a brand of junk food, an observation that has sparked both public curiosity and ridicule.
They pointed out that the elusive Piattos received the largest share of confidential funds disbursed by the OVP in December 2022.
Furthermore, Khonghun said the Vice President has only herself to blame for the fate of her 200 employees whose jobs are on the line because of her steadfast refusal to defend her office’s P2 billion budget request.
He was referring to Duterte’s earlier statement that around 200 personnel could lose their jobs if the Senate adopts the House’s decision to allocate only P733 million to OVP for 2025.
“That’s her responsibility. Because if she faced Congress to defend and justify her budget request, her staff would not be in danger of losing their jobs. So, it’s her responsibility. Why is she passing the blame on Congress,” Khonghun said.
