THE House Blue Ribbon Committee on Wednesday night cited Undersecretary and Chief of Staff Zuleika Lopez of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) for contempt for causing “undue interference” in its investigation into the alleged mishandling of multi-million-peso government funds by Vice President Sara Duterte.

The committee, chaired by Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua, approved a motion by Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro to cite Lopez for contempt, citing her violation of Section 11(f) of the House Rules of Procedure Governing Inquiries in Aid of Legislation.

“So may I move Mr. Chair na nag-violate si Atty. Lopez dito sa ating proceedings or dun sa ating trabaho, due to this Section 11, letter F, undue interference on the conduct of proceedings. May I move to cite Atty. Lopez in contempt,” she said.

As a penalty, the panel approved Castro’s motion to detain Lopez within the premises of the House of Representatives until the next hearing on November 25, instead of imposing the maximum penalty of 10 days of detention.

The contempt charge stemmed from an August 21 letter signed by Lopez and addressed to the Commission on Audit (COA), requesting the audit body to withhold compliance with a House subpoena for audit reports related to P500-million confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs) under the OVP.

While Lopez claimed the letter was drafted by OVP Assistant Chief of Staff Lemuel Ortonio, she admitted to signing it. Ortonio is among four OVP officials previously cited for contempt and ordered arrested by the panel for refusing to attend the hearings.

“Parang siga-siga ba ‘yung Office of the Vice President na utusan ang COA na hindi kami sundin?” Castro asked Lopez.

“Mr. Chair, hindi po siga-siga ang OVP. It was really just a respectful request your honor for them to consider our position,” Lopez answered.

Castro noted: “Dito sa letter na ito, Mr. Chair, may plano talaga ang Office of the Vice President na mag-interfere doon sa ating conduct ng proceedings. Dahil dito Mr. Chair, I’m sorry, Atty. Lopez no, dahil ikaw yung nakapirma dito.”

Lopez later requested a motion for reconsideration and personally apologized to Castro in an attempt to lift the contempt order, but the committee rejected her plea.

Castro explained that the contempt order was based not only on Lopez’s undue interference but also on the “totality of the discussions,” during which she appeared evasive in responding to questions from lawmakers.

Before Castro’s motion, committee members expressed frustration with Lopez as she repeatedly claimed to have no knowledge of key matters involving the OVP, despite being the Vice President’s chief of staff.

Deputy Speaker David “Jay-jay” Suarez challenged her denials, pointing out that Lopez herself had authored responses to letters and summons related to the OVP’s confidential fund transactions.

Similarly, Antipolo City 2nd District Rep. Romeo Acop noted that her correspondence with COA demonstrated familiarity with the details of the transactions.

During the hearing, Lopez deflected responsibility for the CIFs, pointing instead to Vice President Duterte and Special Disbursing Officer Gina Acosta.

However, lawmakers were unconvinced, citing testimony from OVP career officials who identified Lopez and Acosta as primarily responsible for managing the CIFs.

Both Lopez and Acosta belong to Duterte’s “inner circle” and previously worked with her during her tenure as mayor of Davao City, where similar large confidential fund allocations were made annually.

The parallels between Duterte’s CIF allocations as mayor and her current practices in the OVP have raised concerns among lawmakers.

The panel’s next hearing on November 25 will continue to probe the OVP’s use of confidential funds and evaluate the roles of key officials in the alleged mishandling of public funds.

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