Vice President Sara Duterte allegedly blocked the transfer of her chief of staff, Zuleika Lopez, to the Women’s Correctional Facility in Mandaluyong, which House Sergeant-at-Arms Napoleon Taas described as “alarming acts of defiance.”
House Blue Ribbon Committee Chairperson and Manila Rep. Joel Chua along with Taas held an early Saturday morning media briefing where the latter said the Vice President disrupted the authority and operations of the House of Representatives again with her actions on Friday night.
“The House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability…has resolved to transfer Atty. Zuleika T. Lopez…to the Women’s Correctional Facility in Mandaluyong City. However, the execution of this lawful order was directly obstructed by Vice President Sara Duterte, who took the extraordinary step of introducing herself as Atty. Lopez’s legal counsel and physically intervening to prevent the service of the transfer order,” Taas said.
The House official said specific actions taken by Duterte to block the order include assuming the role of Lopez’s legal counsel to impede the committee’s directive, physically preventing House security personnel from executing the transfer order, disrupting House operations and disregarding established rules governing visits to detainees, and compromising security protocols by bringing an excessive and unauthorized armed presence into the complex.
“This act of interference demonstrates a blatant disregard for institutional authority and due process, setting a dangerous precedent for abuse of power. The Vice President’s intervention came during her visit to the House detention facility, which had been initially permitted under specific guidelines,” Taas said.
“Instead of adhering to these parameters, Duterte escalated the situation by overstaying her visit and ignoring repeated directives from the Sergeant-at-Arms to leave the premises. She then locked herself inside the office of Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte, prompting a lockdown of the entire House premises,” he added.
The Sergeant-at-Arms said the Vice President’s actions caused excessive resource strain, reallocation of security personnel, and compromised safety within the House premises, among other disruptions.
