THE House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability will order the arrest of Vice President Sara Duterte’s chief of staff, Atty. Zuleika Lopez, if she continues to disregard the panel’s summons.
Committee members told a Monday’s press conference that they hope Lopez would show up in the continuation of their inquiry on the alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential and intelligence funds of OVP and the Department of Education (DepEd) when VP Duterte was its secretary.
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.
“Ang balita ng komite is dumating na siya. So ine-expect natin sa Wednesday a-attend na siya dahil nga nakatanggap na siya ng subpoena,” Khonghun said.
“So ine-expect natin na susunod siya sa imbitasyon ng komite at magpapakita na, at least para magbigay linaw patungkol sa gastos ng OVP tungkol sa confidential fund,” Khonghun said.
Deputy Majority Leader Paolo Ortega V of La Union reminded Lopez that she promised to honor the committee’s repeated invitation after her U.S. trip.
“‘Yung reply letter naman niya nanduon she indicated na she will be back…sa (Nov.) 14th. Pero kailangan na i-honor niya iyon kasi napakahalaga niya po sa mga hearing na ito kasi siya po ang nagre-release (ng confidential funds) eh,” he said.
“Mas marami po siyang masasagot na importanteng katanungan and hopefully she will shed light dito sa anomalya na nahanap po ng good government committee,” he said.
Last week, the committee on good government and public accountability, which is chaired by Manila Rep. Joel Chua, cited four OVP officers in contempt and ordered their arrest and detention for their repeated defiance of subpoenas for them to attend its hearings.
Lopez got a reprieve upon the motion of Deputy Speaker David Suarez, with the committee giving her a last chance to show up on Wednesday or face the same penalty as her colleagues.
Those cited in contempt and ordered detained were Gina Acosta, OVP special disbursing officer; Lemuel Ortonio, OVP assistant chief of staff and Bids and Awards Committee chairman; Sunshine Fajarda, former DepEd assistant secretary; and her husband Edward Fajarda, former DepEd special disbursing officer.
Four other OVP officers attended the Nov. 11 hearing. They were Rosalynne Sanchez, OVP administrative and financial services director; Julieta Villadelrey, OVP chief accountant; Kevin Gerome Tenido, OVP chief administrative officer; and Edelyn Rabago, OVP budget division officer-in-charge.
They all testified that they have no personal knowledge of how the P500 million in OVP intelligence and confidential funds (CIFs) in 2022 and 2023, and P112.5 million DepEd CIFs were used.
They told the committee that only Vice President Duterte, Lopez and Acosta were aware of the disbursements.
At least two DepEd officials have told the good government panel that they received envelopes containing cash from the office of VP Duterte every time there was a confidential funds release from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
One undersecretary received P50,000 a month for nine months, while another official got P25,000, also for nine months.
Of the P500 million in confidential funds released to OVP, the Commission on Audit has disallowed P73 million spent in December 2022, and has flagged more than P160 million used in the first three quarters of 2023.
