VP Sara's chief of staff travels to US, skips House probe

Vice President Sara Duterte's chief of staff, Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez, was unable to attend the House probe into the utilization of their office's budget on Tuesday as she traveled to the United States on Monday.

The House good government and public accountability committee received records from the Bureau of Immigration that show Lopez reached the immigration gates at 7:31 p.m. November 4. She was on Philippine Airlines flight PR 102, which was headed to Los Angeles.

GMA News Online has asked the OVP for a comment.

OVP officials Lemuel Ortonio, Atty. Rosalynne Sanchez, Julieta Villadelrey, Gina Acosta, Atty. Sunshine Fajarda, and Edward Fajarda were also absent from the hearing, prompting the committee to reissue a subpoena to the group for the last time.

If they still refuse to attend the inquiry, the OVP officials will be cited in contempt, which carries a corresponding detention order.

“To these people, don’t challenge the committee to issue a contempt order against you, given that we are inviting you to come for the fifth time already,” Manila Representative Benny Abante said.

Only Lopez is currently out of the country out of the seven OVP officials.

In a position paper, the OVP officials invoked the right to decline invitation, saying that the officials and personnel of the OVP were invited to attend in their capacity as resource persons.

”All things considered, we reiterate our previous position in the case of Calida v. Trillanes that ‘persons invited to appear before a legislative inquiry do so as resource persons and not as accused in a criminal proceeding. Thus, they should be accorded respect and courtesy since they were under no compulsion to accept the invitation extended before them, yet they did so anyway. Their accommodation of a request should not in any way be repaid with insinuations,'" the position paper read.

“We are guided by this ruling of the Supreme Court in that invitations from the Committee may be declined, and that we have the right to respectfully refuse to participate in the proceedings.”

Lanao del Sur Representative Zia Adiong dismissed the OVP officials’ reasoning for not attending, saying that the SC decision does not allow those subject of a subpoena to escape congressional inquiry.

“Parts of the ruling state that we should be conscious about the rights of the invited persons. It does not say that they have the right to refuse to be called into inquiry. In fact, refusal to attend a committee hearing constitutes a violation under the Revised Penal Code, Article 150 (disobedience to summons issued by Congress),” Adiong said. —VBL, GMA Integrated News