Rep. Joel Chua
THE House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability has issued subpoenas anew to six of Vice President Sara Duterte’s officials that if they fail to appear in the next hearing of the panel, they will be ordered arrested.
The Blue Ribbon panel chaired by Manila Rep. Joel Chua issued the subpoenas to Atty. Zuleika Lopez, VP Duterte’s chief-of-staff; Atty. Lemuel Ortonio, assistant OVP COS; Atty. Rosalynne Sanchez, OVP Director for Administrative and Financial Services; Gina Acosta, OVP Special Disbursing Officer; Julieta Villadelrey, OVP Chief Accountant: and Edward D. Fajarda, former DepEd Special Disbursing Officer and now with the OVP.
“Do I hear a motion for the issuance of subpoena ad testificandum to the resource persons that we invited or subject of show cause order and yet they refused to attend and recognize this committee,” said Chua.
To which Rep. Keith Flores said, “Mr. Chair, I move that we issue subpoena ad testificandum to the persons named by the Comsec those who were issued show cause orders.”
“So those resource persons are subject of the show-cause order. So, do I hear a second to the motion of Honorable Keith? Duly seconded … The Comsec is ordered to issue subpoena ad testificandum to the following resource persons,” Chua said.
The committee issued show-cause orders to the OVP officials following their absences, and Chua signaled that further action may include contempt citations and possible arrests if they continue to evade the inquiry.
The investigation stems from accusations surrounding the misuse of P125 million in confidential funds by the OVP, with P73 million being flagged by the Commission on Audit (COA).
The COA report raised red flags after the bulk of the amount was spent in just 11 days, from Dec. 20 to 31, 2022. Despite the issuance of show-cause orders, none of the officials in question attended recent hearings.
Chua, in coordination with the Bureau of Immigration and the Department of Justice, has also requested the issuance of a lookout bulletin order to ensure the officials do not evade accountability by leaving the country.
“May I also request that a lookout bulletin order be issued as well in coordination with the Bureau of Immigration and DOJ,” he added.
The hearing also touched on the alleged role of Atty. Lopez, the OVP chief of staff, and her team in managing the disbursements and the lack of transparency in the use of the funds.
This investigation is part of a broader inquiry into the OVP’s budgetary practices and the questionable use of government funds. The inquiry also touched on the irregularities of the term of VP Duterte as Secretary of Education.
The issue has stirred public interest, with calls for greater oversight of government spending and the role of high-ranking officials in ensuring proper use of public funds.
