Sara Duterte's chief of staff denies knowledge on how OVP uses confi funds

Vice President Sara Duterte's chief of staff, Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez, on Wednesday told a congressional hearing that she has no knowledge of how the Office of the Vice President (OVP) utilizes its confidential funds. 

During the resumption of the investigation of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, Lopez, who just returned to the country from a personal trip to the United States, said her role in the OVP is only to oversee the institutionalization and implementation of all the socioeconomic projects of the office. 

“In the Office of the Vice President, although I am undersecretary and the chief of staff, I am purely handling operational concerns. There are areas, for example, that I am not privy to, one of which is the matter of confidential expenses,” Lopez said during the interpellation of 1-Rider party-list Representative Rodge Gutierrez. 

“Although I would wish to answer really, respectfully as regards the matter of confidential expenses, it is something that I have not really been privy to from the very beginning,” she added. 

Lopez specifically said she cannot answer questions about the OVP’s confidential funds as she has no idea about its disbursement, liquidation, and utilization.

She also affirmed that the OVP is “compartmentalized,” meaning that there are certain areas in the office that she or other senior officials have no information about. 

Rosalynne Sanchez, OVP Director for Administrative and Finance Services, earlier told the House committee that those who have knowledge on how the confidential funds were used by the OVP and the Department of Education (DepEd) when it was under Duterte were Special Disbursement Officer Gina Acosta, Lopez, and Duterte herself.

Acosta was one of the four OVP officials cited in contempt alongside Lemuel Ortonio, Sunshine Fajarda, and Edward Fajarda for not attending the hearings despite invitations.

Earlier in the hearing, the committee issued another contempt order against Ortonio for again failing to attend its inquiry into the office’s use of its budget.

Asked if she is aware about the situation of Ortonio who earlier committed to participate in Wednesday’s hearing, Lopez said she has not seen his travel authority letter yet as she only officially returned to office on Tuesday, November 19. 

“I have not seen at all Asec. Lemuel Ortonio and I understand that he is on official travel,” said Lopez, who took an oath under House rules before giving her testimony.

She also affirmed that Ortonio served as officer-in-charge of her office while she was in the US. 

Lopez also thanked the House panel “for the grant of understanding” in her travel, which was approved by Duterte herself. 

Earlier this month, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued an Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order (ILBO) against seven OVP officials, including Lopez.

Lopez is also one of the subjects of the subpoena ad testificandum issued by the House panel for refusing to attend the probe on how their office used its budget, including confidential funds. —KBK, GMA Integrated News