4 no-show OVP execs warned of criminal, admin raps

The four officials of the Office of Vice President (OVP) will face criminal and administrative charges if they would continue defying invitations and subpoenas issued by a committee of the House of Representatives, lawmakers warned Wednesday.

Manila Representative Joel Chua, who chairs the House committee on good government and public accountability, said they would not hesitate to file criminal charges against the four.

The panel earlier cited Lemeul Ortonio, Gina Acosta, Sunshine Fajarda, and Eduard Fajarda in contempt for repeated failure to attend the inquiry on the budget use of the OVP and the Department of Education, during the stint of Vice President Sara Duterte.

“They are public officers, and under the law, they have the duty to attend congressional hearings,” Chua said.

During the panel's sixth hearing Wednesday, Chua and the other committee members expressed frustration over the repeated refusal of the four to attend the inquiry, with Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel saying, “Mr. Chair, niloloko na tayo ng mga ito.”

According to the committee secretary, the four have yet to receive the order as they are on official travel.

Chua said the Supreme Court had declared that attendance in a House or Senate hearing “is mandatory when one is summoned.”

He noted that failure to honor a congressional subpoena “is subject to criminal sanctions under Article 150 of the Revised Penal Code," which imposes the penalty of arresto mayor (one month and one day to six months), or a fine of P40,000 to P200,000, or both, on "any person who, having been duly summoned to attend as a witness before Congress, its special or standing committee and subcommittees…refuses without legal excuse to obey such summons…”

The same penalty shall be imposed upon any person who shall induce disobedience to summons or refusal to be sworn by any such body or official.

Deputy Speaker and Quezon Rep. David Suarez said that aside from criminal charges, the panel could also look into the possibility of filing administrative cases against the four OVP officers.

Taguig City Rep. Pammy Zamora moved that the committee forward the contempt and arrest orders against Ortonio, Acosta and the Fajardas to the Bureau of Immigration with a request that a “lookout bulletin be issued to prevent them from fleeing the country to evade our investigation.”

Meanwhile, Assistant Majority Leader and Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Jil Bongalon moved to cite Ortonio in contempt again, with the committee approving his motion to detain Ortonio at the Bicutan prison for 10 days upon his arrest.

Chua said if Zuleika Lopez, Duterte’s chief of staff, was able to show up in Wednesday’s inquiry after a trip to the United States, he could not understand why the four consistently defy his committee.—Sherylin Untalan/AOL, GMA Integrated News