House orders release of OVP's Zuleika Lopez

The House of Representatives on Saturday ordered the release of Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez of the Office of the Vice President.

The release order was signed by Manila Representative Joel Chua, chairperson of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability.

Lopez has been confined at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center since November 23 after she fell ill following the panel's decision to remove her from the House detention facility in the middle of the night.

The detention was supposed to expire on November 25, but the House extended it until November 30.

Lopez was ordered detained after she was cited in contempt for her supposed "undue interference" in the panel’s investigation into the confidential funds of the offices held by Vice President Sara Duterte.

Lopez earlier told a congressional hearing that she had no knowledge of how the OVP utilizes its confidential funds, saying her role in the OVP is only to oversee the institutionalization and implementation of all the socioeconomic projects of the office.

In Lopez’s defense, Duterte said that her chief of staff had no knowledge about the matter being questioned.  — VBL, GMA Integrated News