Sara Duterte aide Zuleika Lopez skips House probe due to 'stress disorder'

Vice President Sara Duterte's chief of staff, lawyer Zuleika Lopez, skipped Monday’s House panel probe on the budget use of the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education due to "acute stress disorder."

"As you may have been made aware, yesterday, 23 November 2024, I was admitted and confined in the Veterans Memorial Medical Center and was subsequently diagnosed with acute stress disorder following the series of incidents leading to my eventual transfer to the said government facility," Lopez said in her letter to the committee dated November 24.

"In connection with the same, I am sincerely and humbly hoping for the kind consideration of this Honorable Committee in excusing my appearance for tomorrow's hearing," she added.

Attached to Lopez's letter was a copy of a November 24 Certificate of Confinement signed by doctors at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) indicating her condition.

"This is to certify that Atty. Zuleika Lopez, a 50-year-old female patient, is currently admitted at our institution. She is being managed for Acute Stress Disorder after presenting with difficulty in sleeping, anxiety and intrusive symptoms in the form of nightmares, flashbacks and avoidance, alongside a diagnosis of Musculoskeletal strain of both shoulders to consider chronic adhesive capsulitis, spinal asymmetry of the thoracic spine, lumbar spondylosis after presenting with shoulder pain with limited range of motion and back pain," the certification read.

Lopez has been cited in contempt by the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability and ordered detained until Monday, November 25, when the panel resumes its probe.

Lopez was cited in contempt after she confirmed that she signed a letter asking state auditors not to comply with a subpoena from the House Committee on Appropriations concerning submission of audit reports on the confidential fund use of the OVP and DepEd from 2022 to 2023.

While in detention at the Batasang Pambansa Complex, the same House panel ordered her transfer to Women's Correctional in Mandaluyong City amid the continued presence of Duterte in the building even after working hours.

Duterte, daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte, spent Friday night to Saturday at the Batasang Pambansa before Lopez was transferred to the hospital. She has maintained that she has never misused public funds, and that the ongoing House panel inquiry is not in aid of legislation but a dry run for an impeachment bid against her. —KBK, GMA Integrated News