The House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability on late Friday evening ordered the transfer of Vice President Sara Duterte‘s chief of staff, Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez, from its detention facility to the Women’s Correctional Facility in Mandaluyong.
“Having considered your report and recommendation hereto attached, the Committee on Good Governance and Public Accountability, in its special meeting held on November 22, 2024, called by its members, unanimously approved the transfer of detention of Atty. Zuleika T. Lopez from the House of Representatives to the Women’s Correctional Facility, Mandaluyong City,” the order read.
The committee’s chairperson and Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua has since directed House Sergeant-at-Arms Napoleon Taas to implement the order.
Earlier cited for contempt, Lopez has been detained at the lower chamber’s detention facility since November 20.
Duterte’s office past Saturday midnight called for a Zoom press briefing, where Lopez told the media how nine people barged into her room to initiate the transfer: “I am not leaving my room. I am a detainee here at the House of Representatives. I am not an accused. I am not an accused. I’m not going to a jail facility. I have my rights. I am not moving. I am not leaving this room.”
The OVP official questioned the order’s legality as her motion for reconsideration, which she filed on November 21 in a bid to lift her contempt order, had not been addressed yet.
For her part, Duterte said she came to Lopez right away after receiving her call. The Vice President was staying at the office of her brother, Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte, since her request to personally accompany Lopez under detention was not approved.
Lopez was later brought to Quezon City’s Veterans Memorial Medical Center after falling ill. According to Sara, who accompanied her, Lopez kept vomiting before eventually collapsing.
The chief of staff was then transferred to St. Luke’s Medical Center in the same city.
Taas, citing the latest report of a PNP doctor, has since said that Lopez is in normal condition and in “pretty good shape.”
