House panel orders release of Sara Duterte’s chief of staff

Office of the Vice President (OVP) Undersecretary and Vice President Sara Duterte’s chief of staff, Atty. Zuleika Lopez. INQUIRER / GRIG MONTEGRANDE

MANILA, Philippines — The House committee on good governance and public accountability on Saturday ordered the release of Atty. Zuleika Lopez, the chief of staff and undersecretary of the Office of the Vice President (OVP), after her 10-day detention period.

“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,” read the release order addressed to House Sergeant-at-arms Napoleon Taas signed by the chairman of the House panel, Manila Rep. Joel Chua.

Last November 25, the House panel extended the detention period of Lopez to 10 days, which was previously set to five days. Lopez was cited for contempt during a hearing on the alleged misuse of public funds by the OVP under Duterte.

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Lopez was rushed to the hospital on Saturday morning due to health issues. She is currently hospitalized at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center.

Taas previously said that the Vice President “physically” intervened to order the transfer of Lopez from the House detention to a women’s correctional facility in Mandaluyong City.

Tension further rose when Duterte held an online press conference last Saturday where she said that if she was killed, she ordered the assassination of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez. She also claimed that the order was “no joke.”

Marcos and Duterte, who were under the “Uniteam” ticket in the 2022 elections, are seemingly caught up in a political feud. It first escalated after Duterte resigned from her post as the secretary of the Department of Education.