VICE President Sara Duterte appeared at the House of Representatives on Monday to attend a continuing panel hearing scrutinizing the use of budget and confidential funds by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) during her tenure as secretary.
Prior to leaving the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC), where OVP chief of staff and undersecretary Zuleika Lopez is currently hospitalized, Duterte told reporters that she had to accompany other OVP personnel who were attending the hearing.
“I need to accompany the OVP personnel who are at the House hearing,” she said in a brief interview.
Four OVP personnel – Lemuel Ortonio, Gina Acosta, Sunshine Fajarda, and Eduard Fajarda – attended the hearing accompanied by their lawyers. They were previously cited in contempt and faced possible arrest warrants for their repeated absence from the hearings.
The Vice President stated that Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa would remain at the VMMC to accompany Lopez.
Lopez, a long-time aide to Duterte, was admitted to the VMMC after falling ill following the House of Representatives’ order to transfer her to the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW). She was placed in House detention after being cited in contempt on Wednesday for her alleged “undue interference” in a panel’s investigation into the budget use of Duterte’s offices.
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