Members of an inter-agency coordinating committee conduct a walk through on July 15, 2024, as the House of Representatives prepares for the coming State Of the Nation Address of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on July 22.

Members of an inter-agency coordinating committee conduct a walk through on July 15, 2024, as the House of Representatives prepares for the coming State Of the Nation Address of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on July 22. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

CONGRESS-SONA

Vivienne Gulla

ABS-CBN News

<p><span data-teams="true" id="isPasted"><span dir="ltr"></span></span>MANILA -- Lawmakers questioned on Wednesday the timing of the overseas trip of Vice President Sara Duterte’s Chief of Staff.</p><p><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/11/5/sara-duterte-s-chief-of-staff-left-ph-amid-funds-probe-house-panel-1228">Atty. Zuleika Lopez flew out of the country</a> on the eve of the resumption of the Tuesday House panel investigation into the OVP’s alleged misuse of confidential funds.</p><p>“Nakakalungkot na tila may effort na pigilan ang mga opisyal ng OVP sa pagharap sa aming imbestigasyon. Inaalam pa namin kung totoo nga bang si VP Duterte mismo ang pumirma sa travel authority ng kanyang chief-of-staff na lumipad papuntang U.S. bago ang ating hearing,” House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability Chairperson Rep. Joel Chua said in a statement. </p><p>“Mayroong bad faith... They were invited several times… Umalis siya ng bansa the night before the scheduled hearing… Kung wala kang itinatago, bakit ka umiiwas?” AKO BICOL Party List Rep. Raul Angelo Bongalon added. </p><p>In a statement, the Office of the Vice President said Lopez “appropriately submitted documents required of traveling government officials, which were approved by the Vice President”. It stressed that her travel was personal, unrelated to employment with the OVP, and only for a period of two weeks, adding that speculations about the purpose of Lopez’s travel are “unfounded and unnecessary.” </p><p>But congressmen said it cannot be helped to be suspicious of the move. </p><p>“The timing is very suspicious… It is your duty to respond to an official invitation by your co-equal branch, especially if it discusses a very important matter, which is the utilization of public funds. It is your duty above private matters,” House Assistant Majority Leader and Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Adiong explained. </p><p>“Siguro justifiable naman if you would imply bad faith na umalis siya gabi bago nangyari ‘yung hearing, na pang-apat na imbitasyon sa kanila… With her absence, a lot of questions will be left unanswered… Sino ang magbe-benepisyo na umalis siya?” House Deputy Majority Leader and TINGOG Party List Rep. Jude Acidre added. </p><p>They also criticized Duterte, after three incumbent and former officials of the Department of Education told the committee that they received envelopes containing cash when the VP was still the head of the agency.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/11/5/deped-chief-accountant-admits-receiving-envelopes-during-sara-duterte-s-term-1827">READ: DepEd chief accountant admits receiving envelopes during Sara Duterte&#x27;s term</a> </div><p>“Mayroon pala sa pinakamataas na position ng kagawaran nila, hindi rin sinusunod at binabale-wala ang sariling polisya na no-gift policy.... Ilang milyon ‘yun every month? Kung bibilangin natin ang confidential funds, baka makita natin saan napunta,” Acidre said. </p><p> “There’s a pattern. Hindi lahat ng empleyado ng DepEd ay binigyan ng allowance... ‘Yung nakatanggap ng ganitong allowances na sinabi nila ay selected siya, doon sa dadaanan ng pera at accountable officers na pipirma, any officers that have something to do with the releasing and utilization of these public funds… It was done discreetly,” Adiong observed. </p><p>But he and Acidre said an impeachment complaint against Duterte at this point would be “premature”. They denied that it is the objective of the House panel hearing on the VP’s confidential expenses. </p><p>The Vice President previously asserted that there was no misuse of public funds in her office.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8Jg95_CSNmc?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div>

<p>Lawmakers questioned on Wednesday the timing of the overseas trip of Vice President Sara Duterte’s Chief of Staff.</p>

Lawmakers questioned on Wednesday the timing of the overseas trip of Vice President Sara Duterte’s Chief of Staff.

Lawmakers question timing of OVP chief of staff’s departure | ABS-CBN

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Lawmakers question timing of OVP chief of staff’s departure

Lawmakers question timing of OVP chief of staff’s departure

Vivienne Gulla,

ABS-CBN News

Published Nov 06, 2024 10:24 PM PHT

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Zuleika Lopez

Office of the Vice President

Sara Duterte

House of Representatives

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