VP Sara eyes House stay until New Year, says only Martin wants her dead

Vice President Sara Duterte is looking to stay "until after the New Year's" at the House of Representatives after her chief of staff Atty. Zuleika Lopez was cited in contempt and ordered detained by the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability.

In a news conference via Zoom, Duterte said she told House Sergeant-at-Arms retired Major Gen. Napoleon Taas when they discussed her security that only Speaker Martin Romualdez wanted her dead, and that he would not do it inside the House complex.

“We were initially doing a planning session last night to stay here until after the New Year's," Duterte told reporters regarding her stay at the House.

Duterte is staying at the office of her brother Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte after she visited Lopez at the House detention facility.

She asked that she be allowed to stay with Lopez but the committee didn't allow it.

Duterte said Paolo gave her permission to use his office to make it convenient for her to see Lopez with the House committee's permission if the latter needed her in case of emergency.

"So may mga nararamdaman siya healthwise. Ang gusto niya kasi talaga sana is for her peace of mind, samahan ko siya doon para makatulog siya. But the best alternative at this point is for me to stay dito sa office ni Cong. Pulong," Duterte said.

(She has health issues. She wanted for her peace of mind for me to be with her so she could sleep. The best alternative for me now is to stay at the office of Cong. Pulong.)

Duterte said her staff had been looking at the experience of the Ilocos Six—the six Ilocos Norte employees who were detained by a House committee looking into the local government's purchase of motor vehicles worth P66.5 million from its share of tobacco excise taxes.

Duterte said the Ilocos 6 also spent Christmas and New Year's Day in House detention.

Lopez was ordered detained at the lower chamber after she was cited in contempt for her supposed "undue interference."

The detention is until Nov. 25, the date of the committee's next hearing on the disbursement of confidential funds by the OVP and the Department of Education under Duterte.

Lopez had confirmed to the committee investigating the disbursement of confidential funds by the OVP and the DepEd that it was she who signed the letter to the Commission on Audit, asking the latter not to comply with House subpoena on audit reports on the fund releases. 

The House committee had rejected Duterte's request to join Lopez in detention as she was not covered by the detention order. 

The House panel also thumbed down the request of the Davao City lawmaker that Lopez be detained at his congressional office instead of at the lower chamber's detention center. 

Duterte said she already asked for a rope where she could dry her clothes after laundry. Her staff already provided a WiFi connection for Lopez so she could do her duties in the OVP while detained. 

But she has yet to talk to her children in Davao City regarding her whereabouts. 

"Ang hindi ko palang nasabi sa mga bata is kung nasaan ako ngayon. Kasi ang expectation nila ngayon ay nasa Cagayan de Oro ako. But tonight, during our video call, sasabihin ko kung nasaan ako," said Duterte. 

(What I haven't told my kids is where I am now. Because they were expecting that I'm Cagayan de Oro. But tonight, during our video call, I will them where I am.) 

When the House Sergeant-at-Arms had discussed Duterte's need for security inside the House, Duterte said that the only peril to her security would be Romualdez himself, who she claimed wanted her dead. 

“Sabi ko, ‘Sir, isa lang naman ang gustong pumatay sa akin, si Martin Romualdez.’ And I don’t think gagawin niya ‘yan rito sa loob ng House of Representatives. Gagawin niya ‘yan sa labas,” Duterte said as she shared that she was told by the House sergeant-at-arms to leave the compound. 

(I said, ‘Sir, there’s only one who wanted to kill me and that’s Martin Romualdez.’ And I don’t think he would do that inside the House of Representatives. He would do that outside.) 

“Because I know him from the short time na nagkasama kami. I’m a good judge of character. Mabilis ako maka-assess ng isang tao. Nagkasama kami sa kampanya. I’m no psychologist, but that man has so much baggage and insecurities sa buhay niya,” Duterte said.

(Because I know him from the short time we worked together. I’m a good judge of character. I can easily assess a person. We worked together during the campaign. I’m no psychologist, but that man has so much baggage and insecurities in his life.) 

GMA News Online reached out to the camp of Romualdez for his reaction.

Do not tell me what to do 

The vice president said Romualdez should not tell her to attend the hearings. 

“I do not give him my trust and confidence as a congressman. I did not vote for him as Speaker of the House of Representatives…So 'wag niya akong pagsabihan kung ano yung dapat kong gawin (So he should not tell me what to do)," she said.

Romualdez earlier asked Duterte to personally explain before the House panel the disbursement of confidential funds by her office and that of the DepEd when she was still the secretary. 

The Speaker made the call on Thursday after Lopez told the House inquiry on the OVP and the DepEd's use of confidential funds that she had no role in the release of the confidential funds.

“Hindi talaga ako uma-attend sa mga hearings. Why would I answer to a Speaker implicated in a bribery case on record in a court case? Why would I answer to a member, hanggang ngayon hindi ko pa rin alam bakit member pa rin ito ng House of Representatives, convicted of child abuse, taking IP children doon sa amin sa Davao City dadalhin sa Manila?" Duterte said.

(I really don’t attend the hearings. Why would I answer to a Speaker who is implicated in a bribery case? Why would I answer to a member, which I’m still curious what that person is still in the House of Representatives, even if convicted for child abuse by taking IP children from Davao City to Manila?) 

She added that one House member owed her husband’s law firm.

“Why would I answer to a member of the House of Representatives na may utang sa  aking husband na P9 million dahil sa isang case? So why would I answer to them? Why would I answer to a member of the House of Representatives na ang tatay niya mismo, may screencap ako, nagso-sorry sa ginagawa ng anak niya?” she said.

(Why would I answer to a member of the House of Representatives who owes P9 million from my husband? So why would I answer to them? Why would I answer to a member of the House of Representatives whose father, I actually have a screencap of that, was saying sorry for his actions?) —LDF/NB, GMA Integrated News