THE 20TH City Council expressed sympathy to former Davao City administrator Atty. Zuleika Lopez, in a resolution passed on Tuesday.
Councilor Lorenzo Villafuerte shared that on Nov. 22, Lopez claimed several men barged into her detention room and forced her to read an order for her immediate transfer to a correctional institution for women.
Villafuerte, the proponent of the resolution said that the act of coercion and compulsion of Lopez is “argued as an outright violation of her right to liberty and due process.”
“It is my duty to remind everyone that Human rights are the most basic right which is bestowed on each and every individual, and to strongly oppose any attempts to undermine such right,” the committee chair of the Civil, Political and Human Rights said.
“Any infringement of the fundamental rights of Atty. Zuleika Lopez, a fellow public servant, and Davaoeño demand our utmost sympathy,” he added.
During the Nov. 20 hearing of the budget of the Office of the Vice President, ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro moved to cite Lopez for contempt due to alleged “undue interference.”
According to Castro, Lopez sent a letter to the Commission on Audit (COA), requesting the commission to disregard a congressional subpoena for audit reports on the office’s confidential expenses in 2022 and 2023.
“Atty Lopez explained that it was merely a respectful request and was not intended to undermine Congress since the audit investigation was not yet final and it was not the right time to release the said findings,” Villafuerte said.
Lopez’s detention for five days, the councilor added, may be considered “arbitrary and possibly tantamount to a grave abuse of discretion.”
On Nov. 23, around 500 Davaoeños flocked to Rizal Park for a candle-lighting rally to back embattled Vice President Sara Duterte and Lopez.
