ezjili VP visits detained aide, spends night at House

Sara to stay put until chief of staff freed

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte intends to spend her weekend with her chief of staff Zuleika Lopez at the House of Representatives premises, where the latter has been detained since Wednesday after being cited in contempt by a committee investigating Duterte’s alleged misuse of confidential funds.

At a press conference via Zoom last night, Duterte told reporters she had a permission from her brother, Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte to indefinitely stay in his Batasang Pambansa office until Lopez is released from detention, possibly on Nov. 25.

“Since I’m not allowed to stay at the detention facility, I will temporarily stay here,” the Vice President said, referring to her brother’s office. “Anyway, there’s a sofa here. I brought some of my personal things with me...I will just have to call my kids later tonight to tell them that I can’t go home for the weekend.”

In a letter to the House committee on good government and public accountability chaired by Manila Rep. Joel Chua, she explained that Lopez “is not used to being alone and is worried that other detainees may cause her harm.

“She has requested me to join her so she may have peace of mind and get adequate rest,” Duterte wrote.

She said in a separate letter to Chua that she intended to visit Lopez daily for the entire duration of her detention, which is until Nov. 25.

Duterte spent the night on Thursday in her brother’s office and left yesterday morning only to return later to announce her decision to spend the weekend at the House premises.

In an interview with radio dzBB earlier yesterday, House Secretary General Reginald Velasco confirmed that Duterte arrived at the House premises at around 7:40 p.m. on Thursday.

Velasco said Duterte and Lopez met at the Visitors’ Center because it was already beyond the visiting hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Detention Facility where Lopez is currently staying.

“We received a request from the Vice President and we granted the request. Her security and advance party were first to arrive followed by the Vice President. She was here before 8 p.m.,” Velasco said in English and Filipino.

“She coordinated [her visit to Lopez] with us and we provided additional security on top of her security, alerted the nearby Batasan police precinct here and even Quezon City police in case there are disturbances,” he added.

Chua stressed that the Vice President was not allowed to accompany Lopez inside her detention facility.

“Inasmuch as this humble representation would like to accommodate your request, we are constrained to abide by the guidelines of the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms (OSAA). Per the guidelines, the facility is for detainees and the committee has not ordered for your detention,” Chua’s reply letter to Duterte read.

“However, you may visit her during the period allowable under the OSAA guidelines. We are constrained to follow OSAA guidelines. Please be guided accordingly,” he added.

Duterte and her retinue spent the night at the office of Rep. Duterte, according to Velasco.

In a letter to Chua, Rep. Duterte said he is giving his sister “unconditional permission” to stay in his office indefinitely.

“The Vice President’s stay will also correspond to her visits to Usec. Zuleika Lopez and other OVP personnel who are currently detained under the custody of the Congress’ office of the Sergent-at-Arms (OSAA) in the Legislative Security Building of the House of Representatives,” Rep. Duterte said.

“I guarantee that no illegal acts or unlawful activities shall be committed by the Vice President, her security and other personnel during their stay,” he said.

Humanitarian reasons

In her letter to the House committee on good government and public accountability, Duterte also sought “consideration” for Lopez for “humanitarian reasons,” citing the latter’s “chronic back problem that often further results in migraine.”

Duterte also said her chief of staff had been feeling nauseous and lightheaded since Wednesday and that she had little sleep because of “fears for her security and safety.”

“I would like to inform you in advance that I intend to visit Atty. Lopez daily, for the full period of her detention, within the bounds of the guidelines pertaining to persons under custody of the Office of the Sergeant-At-Arms (OSAA),” Duterte told Chua.

The House committee on good government and public accountability cited Lopez in contempt, upon the motion of ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro, over her supposed “intellectual dishonesty.”

Castro’s motion to cite Lopez in contempt stemmed from an OVP letter dated Aug. 21 to the Commission on Audit (COA), advising auditors to ignore the House panel’s subpoena on several audit documents, since COA’s probe is not yet complete.

Although she signed the letter as an undersecretary of the OVP, Lopez claimed she was not involved in its preparation and that the content of the letter was a collegial position taken by the OVP.

In an interview with reporters in Butuan City on Wednesday, Duterte slammed the House panel hearing as politically-motivated, saying that officials and employees of the OVP were becoming the “collateral victims” of her critics’ efforts to “persecute” her for political reasons.

“They are getting dragged into the issue,” she said of her staff. “Their work and their reputation are getting affected. I pity them because, as I said, I am a politician and it is expected that they will try to destroy my name because there’s a race [for elections]. To get ahead of their opponents they will really destroy those who see as their competition in politics,” Duterte said.

“But my colleagues in the OVP are not politicians, they are not political officers, they are just doing their jobs... So, that’s really our policy in the OVP – no politicking. Even in our satellite offices and our central office, there’s a standing order that they, who are not politicians, should just have to focus on extending services [to the people],” she added.

Duterte denied that she was preventing OVP officials from testifying in the House panel hearings on her confidential fund spending in 2022 and 2023.

“I’m not forcing OVP personnel to attend [the House hearings], at the same time, I am not preventing them from attending. My constant reminder to them is that whatever will be their decision, just inform us so that we can find ways on how to assist them,” Duterte said.

Asked if she intended to attend the next House panel hearing, Duterte did not give a definite answer.

“Well, it remains to be seen. Right now we are acting on a case-to-case basis, depending on who among us will receive an invitation,” Duterte said.

Not exempted from rules

Also yesterday, Deputy Speaker and Quezon Rep. Jay-jay Suarez scored Duterte for initially refusing to leave the House premises, saying she is not exempted from House rules.

“It would be to the best advantage of everybody that we abide by the rules of the House. The House has already set protocols when it comes to visiting hours, so we appeal to the Vice President to follow the rules of the House of Representatives,” he told “Storycon” on One News.

“No one is exempted from the rules. Everybody will be treated the same. Last (Thursday) night, we bent over and back just so we can accord her the courtesy and extend her visiting hours way past what was allowed,” he added.

Suarez, however, admitted they had limited options in case Duterte insisted on staying, noting that it was “against any logical mind to physically bring her out.”

She cannot be cited in contempt since she is not attending any hearing, he added.

“Is it so difficult to follow the rules? We all abide by principles, rules and laws in the country. She should not be exempt from that. She knows that. She took her oath as the Vice President,” said Suarez.

“For the Filipinos, we’re starting to see the image of a public official that we should not look up to. Nakakahiya talaga (it is shameful),” he added.

In a joint statement, other House leaders and Suarez said the Vice President’s insistence on staying at the House overnight was an affront to the institution.

“We opened the door of concern for her. We gave her special permit to visit Atty. Zuleika Lopez even if it is already beyond the regular visiting hours,” Suarez, Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr. and Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe said in their joint statement. “But after the allowed visiting hours at 10 p.m., she did not leave. Instead, she stayed at the office of her brother, Rep. Paolo Duterte, and stayed there,” the congressmen said.

They claimed Duterte locked herself in her brothers’ office when she was asked to leave after 10 p.m. Thursday.

“Despite pleading by the Sergeant-at-Arms for her to leave, she disregarded them, prompting us to implement a lockdown for the safety and protection of the institution,” the leaders said.

“We would like to remind everyone, especially government officials, we are following policy and protocol in the lower House to ensure its safety and security,” the congressmen stated. — Jose Rodeo Clapano, Bella Cariasoezjili, Janice Mateo

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