MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte appeared at the House of Representatives on Monday to accompany her office’s staff invited by the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability.
The committee is looking into the confidential fund use of the Office of the Vice President from 2022 to 2023.
On Monday, the committee extended OVP Chief of Staff Zuleika Lopez’s period of detention for another five days.
The committee cited Lopez in contempt last week and ruled to detain her up to November 25, Monday.
ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro moved to extend the period of detention “in view of what happened during the last two days or so.”
Lopez, who was confined at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC), was not at the hearing on Monday.
She was to be transferred from the House to a women’s correctional facility but on Saturday, she had a medical emergency. House Secretary General Reginald Velasco said on Sunday that for “humanitarian reasons and to safeguard her well-being,” he had ordered that Lopez stay at the VMMC.
Lopez’s transfer enraged Duterte, prompting her to lash out at President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
