Vice Pres. Sara Duterte Visits Chief-of-Staff Detained at House of Representatives
SARA DUTERTE – The Vice President expressed her plan to stay at the House of Representatives until the New Year.
The investigation on the budget use of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) under the leadership of Vice Pres. Duterte is ongoing. Recently, the House panel that leads the probe conducted another hearing but Duterte still did not appear at the inquiry.
Several officials of the Office of the Vice President appeared at the November 20 hearing set by the House. However, OVP chief of staff Atty. Zuleika Lopez, Chief Administrative Officer Kevin Gerome Tenido, Chief Accountant Julieta Villadelrey, Director for Administrative and Finance Services Rosalynne Sanchez, and Budget Division officer-in-charge Edelyn Rabago all denied having roles in the disbursement of the Confidential Funds.
The claims of the OVP officials led House Speaker Martin Romualdez to believe that only Vice Pres. Sara Duterte knows how the confidential funds of DepEd and the Office of the Vice President were used. He stressed that she should be the one who must attend the hearing.
At the end of the hearing, Office of the Vice President chief of staff Atty. Zuleika Lopez was cited in contempt for her supposed “undue interference”. The House ordered her to be detained until November 25.
Vice Pres. Sara Duterte visited her chief-of-staff and spent the night at the House of Representatives. After talking with Atty. Zuleika Lopez until 10:00 p.m., the Vice President went to the office of her older brother, Davao City First District Representative Paolo Duterte, and spent the night there.
Duterte staying at the House of Representatives overnight gained different reactions from the public. Her stay followed several instances of skipping hearings regarding the budget use of the OVP and the DepEd.
Recently, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte spoke about her decision to stay at the House of Representatives. Based on a report on GMA News, in a news conference via Zoom, the Vice President claimed that they were doing a planning session last night to stay at the House of Representatives “until after the New Year’s”.
According to Vice Pres. Duterte, she told House Sergeant-at-Arms retired Major Gen. Napoleon Taas that only House Speaker Martin Romualdez allegedly wants her dead and he will not do it inside the House complex. Based on the report, she took the offer of her brother to stay at his office and she already asked for rope where she can dry her clothes after the laundry.
Atty. Lopez has been provided with a WiFi connection by the staff of Duterte so she could continue her work at the OVP. However, as for the Vice President, her children did not know where she is.
“Ang hindi ko palang nasabi sa mga bata is kung nasaan ako ngayon. Kasi ang expectation nila ngayon ay nasa Cagayan de Oro ako. But tonight, during our video call, sasabihin ko kung nasaan ako,” the Vice President said.
Previously, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte explained why she will not anymore attend a House hearing regarding her office’s budget use. The Vice President appeared at the first hearing set by the lower chamber over the matter.