House panel orders release of VP Sara aide

MANILA, Philippines — After spending 10 days in detention – mostly at a government hospital – the Office of the Vice President’s chief of staff Zuleika Lopez has been ordered released from custody of the House of Representatives.

House committee on good government and public accountability chairman Rep. Joel Chua issued the order for Lopez’s release to House sergeant-at-arms Police Maj. Gen. Napoleon Taas.

“In view of the undertaking to attend all hearings, you are hereby ordered to immediately release Atty. Zuleika T. Lopez after a medical examination has been conducted on her,” Chua said in the release order dated Nov. 30.

Chua’s committee is investigating Duterte on her alleged misuse of P500 million in confidential funds of the OVP and P112.5 million of the Department of Education (DepEd).

With her release, Lopez committed to attend the committee’s next hearing.

On Nov. 20, Chua’s committee cited Lopez in contempt and ordered her detention for “undue interference in proceedings.”

Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro made the motion to cite Lopez in contempt, citing her letter asking the Commission on Audit (COA) not to submit to the committee its report on the disbursement of the P612.5 million in confidential funds of the OVP and the DepEd.

During the Nov. 20 hearing of the good government committee, Lopez tried to appeal to the panel for the lifting of the contempt order, saying that her letter was a “respectful request to the Commission on Audit.”

“There was no intention, Your Honor, to demand, order or commandeer them into doing something they did not want to do,” Lopez said, referring to the OVP’s Aug. 21 letter to COA.

Lawmakers deemed her communication with COA as an instruction to state auditors not to comply with the subpoena issued by Chua’s committee.

Lopez explained that she made the request because COA’s audit observations were not yet final.

The letter, which she signed, stated that “the subject subpoena should not be complied with,” citing as reason a violation of the constitutional principle of separation of powers.

Castro rejected Lopez’s explanation, stating that the contempt citation was not only about the