Atty. Zuleika Lopez, the chief of staff of Vice President Sara Duterte, attends the resumption of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability inquiry on Nov. 20, 2024 into the alleged misuse of public funds by the OVP and the DepEd under Duterte. Vivienne Gulla, ABS-CBN News/File

MANILA (UPDATED) -- The House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability has ordered the release of Office of the Vice President chief of staff Zuleika Lopez. In a letter released on Saturday, the House panel directed House Sergeant-at-Arms PMGen. Napoleon Taas to "immediately release" Lopez after a medical examination has been conducted. The order was signed by Blue Ribbon Chair Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua and attested to by House Secretary General Reginald Velasco.

The release of Lopez, enforced the same day the order was issued, was ordered "in view of the undertakings to attend all hearings."

The order underscored Lopez’s formal commitment to fully cooperate with the ongoing legislative investigation. “In view of the undertaking to attend all hearings, you are hereby ordered to immediately release Atty. Zuleika T. Lopez after a medical examination has been conducted on her,” the release order stated. She was originally detained at the House detention facility after she was cited in contempt for undue interference during the November 20 hearing.

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The House panel is looking into the alleged misuse of confidential funds of the OVP and Department of Education, until the leadership of VP Sara Duterte. Lopez admitted to lawmakers that she wrote a letter to the Commission on Audit requesting the body to not comply with a House panel subpoena to submit documents for the audit of the 2022 and 2023 confidential funds. She also said she has no knowledge of how the agencies use their confidential funds despite her position.   

The OVP chief of staff then fell ill after the House panel ordered her transfer to the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City. Lopez was brought to the St. Luke's Medical Center and was transferred to the Veteran's Memorial Medical Center on November 23, where she has remained confined since. The contempt order on Lopez was set to expire on November 30, after the House panel ordered an extension for another five days.

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