AS HER reward for enduring nine hours of grilling, Office of the Vice President (OVP) chief-of-staff Zuleika Lopez was cited in contempt by the last interpellator, ACT Teacher’s Party-list Rep. France Castro.
Castro made the motion supposedly due to “undue interference” in the panel’s investigation of confidential funds in the OVP. The contempt order will detain Lopez, the former city administrator when Vice President Sara Duterte was mayor, in the House of Representatives holding office until Nov. 25, 2024.
Castro’s motion was based on a letter sent by the OVP to the Commission on Audit (COA), asking the agency to decline the House panel’s subpoena to submit a report on the confidential funds of the OVP and DepEd.
“I’m sorry Attorney Lopez, because you are the one who signed this, and according to our rule, one of the reasons (for contempt) is undue interference in the conduct of proceedings. So may I move, that Attorney Lopez violated our work. May I move to cite Attorney Lopez in contempt,” Castro said.
“Is it right to simply request the COA to disregard our request for the subpoena?” Castro asked Lopez.
Lopez maintained that it was a “respectful request” made to the state auditors.
“The OVP is not a bully. It was just really a respectful request, your honor, for them to consider our position. Like all position papers filed, we feel that these are the issues we need to raise,” Lopez said.
“I would like to seek reconsideration, your honor, of that recent resolution to cite me in contempt. For the record, it was just a respectful request to the Commission on Audit,” the official pleaded.
“There was no intention to demand from them, or to order, or to command them to do something that they did not want to do. It was something that we requested of the Commission on Audit. At the end of the day, it is still the Commission on Audit who will decide best.”
However, Castro stood by her motion.
“In the totality of the discussion, from 10 o’clock up to now, we have seen that Attorney Lopez’s answers were very evasive.”
“And we saw, not only this letter but also the totality of the discussions earlier, that is the reason why we moved to cite in contempt. So I stand by my motion, Mr. Chair.”
Meanwhile, Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua said, “May we request the sergeant-at-arms to arrange a room, just within the vicinity of the House of Representatives.”
Abang Lingkod Party-list Representative Joseph Stephen Paduano stated that Lopez could still appeal.
“You still have the right to appeal even tomorrow. That’s the right of every resource person or witness being cited in contempt”.
Aside from Lopez, four other OVP officials were held in contempt by the party-list-led panel.
Photos courtesy of Office of the Vice President
