MANILA (UPDATED) -- The Office of the Vice President Chief of Staff Atty. Zuleika Lopez was cited in contempt on Wednesday at the sixth hearing of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability. 

During the course of the hearing, she drew the ire of some congressmen for not directly answering their questions, including those about confidential funds of the OVP. 

But it was ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro who moved to cite Lopez in contempt after her interpellation on the OVP letter sent to the Commission on Audit. 

"I move, mister chair, na nag-violate si Attorney Lopez dito sa ating proceedings, dun sa ating trabaho due to this Section 11, Letter F, undue interference in the conduct of proceedings. May I move to cite Attorney Lopez in contempt," she said.

House panel chairperson Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua approved the motion after it was duly seconded.

Quezon 2nd District Rep. David "Jay Jay" Suarez earlier asked Lopez about the letter dated August 21, 2024. 

READ: VP Duterte expresses sympathy for her staff being grilled at House probe

In the letter, the OVP asked COA to not comply with the subpoena duces tecum issued by the House Committee on Appropriations directing it to submit all documents pertaining to the audit of the 2022 and 2023 confidential funds of OVP and Department of Education.

The OVP said the subpoena violates the constitutional principle of separation of powers, the enforcement of the subpoena will violate the Vice President's right to due process and it will not be validly enforced due to the nature of confidential funds.

Lopez explained the letter is a request to the COA to consider its position, since the audit investigation is still ongoing and the findings are not final yet.

She said OVP Assistant Chief of Staff Lemuel Ortonio drafted the letter, but admitted signing the same.

"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 mister chair, I'm sorry, Attorney Lopez no, dahil ikaw yung nakapirma dito," Rep. Castro said.

Earlier in the hearing, Lopez denied knowing how the office utilizes its confidential funds. However, another OVP official identified Lopez, OVP Special Disbursing Officer Gina Acosta and VP Sara Duterte as those responsible for the said funds.

READ: OVP chief of staff confirms letter asking COA to not submit documents on confidential funds audit

Before the motion's approval, Lopez appealed to the committee.

"I would like to seek reconsideration of the recent resolution to cite me in contempt. For the record, it was a respectful request to the Commission on Audit. There was no intention to demand from them or to order them or to commandeer them to something they did not want to do… At the end of the day it is still the Commission on Audit who will decide best," Lopez said. 

The OVP mentioned Rep. Castro's remarks on confidential funds in the letter sent to COA, saying the only purpose mentioned is "to expose to the public the use of the confidential funds." It also said there is no legislative purpose for the exposure.

"So the only purpose ay i-expose tingin mo walang dahilan bakit natin niraraise itong confidential funds? Yung pag-eexpose natin ng confidential funds hindi lang yan sa panahon natin," Rep. Castro said.

"Are you commanding, are you demanding the COA na hindi sumunod doon sa subpoena? Kung hindi ito demanding, siga-siga ba ang OVP na utusan ang COA na hindi kami sundin?," she added. 

Lopez denied this claim, standing by her earlier explanation that the letter is a "respectful" request to COA.

"I truly apologize if there was something in that letter that slighted you. It was never my intention. I hope and I wish you would consider my apology, this is my personal apology. I would like to request members of the honorable committee to lift the contempt order," Lopez later said to Rep. Castro.

"The apology is accepted. However, in the totality of this discussion from 10 o'clock to now, nakita natin very evasive yung mga sagot ni Attorney Lopez. Nakita natin itong letter na ito, hindi lang itong letter na ito, yung totality ng discussions yung dahilan kung bakit natin minove to cinite siya in contempt. I stand by my motion," Rep. Castro said in response.

The panel also approved the motion to detain Lopez at the House detention facility until November 25, upon resumption of the hearing.

"The basis really is the totality of acts including all the letters, questioning the jurisdiction, failure to attend our numerous hearings in the past was the basis for the penalty issued upon her," Rep. Suarez said. 

Abang Lingkod Party-list Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano appealed to OVP officials to convince DepEd Special Disbursing Officer Edward Fajarda, his wife former DepEd Assistant Secretary Sunshine Fajarda, Ortonio and Acosta to attend the next hearing so they can put an end to the investigation.

When asked for her reaction after the hearing, Lopez said she had no comment and refused to answer further questions from the media.

Her appearance on Wednesday is the first time she faced lawmakers, after skipping earlier hearings. 

She cited a medical emergency involving an immediate relative in the United States as her reason for not attending the previous hearing.

Meanwhile, the House panel also approved the motion to invite former DepEd officials Kris Ablan, Christopher Lawrence Arnuco, Jose Arturo de Castro and Gloria Mercado to the next hearing. 

They were the officials supposedly asked to resign because of Duterte's "loss of trust and confidence" in them.

The committee approved another motion to issue a subpoena duces tecum documents regarding the confidential funds of Davao City from 2016 to 2022. 

The House panel is looking into the alleged misuse of confidential funds of the agencies under the leadership of the Vice President. 

Duterte has earlier denied any misuse of the confidential funds.