VP visits detained aide, spends night at House

Sara to stay put until chief of staff freed

- By ELIZABETH MARCELO

Vice President Sara Duterte intends to spend her weekend with her chief of staff Zuleika Lopez at the House of Representatives premises, where the latter has been detained since Wednesday after being cited in contempt by a committee investigating Duterte's alleged misuse of confidential funds.

At a press conference via Zoom last night, Duterte told reporters she had a permission from her brother, Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte to indefinitely stay in his Batasang Pambansa office until Lopez is released from detention, possibly on Nov. 25.

"Since I'm not allowed to stay at the detention facility, I will temporarily stay here," the Vice President said, referring to her brother's office.

"Anyway, there's a sofa here. I brought some of my personal things with me...I will just have to call my kids later tonight to tell them that I can't go home for the weekend."

In a letter to the House committee on good government and public accountability chaired by Manila Rep. Joel Chua, she explained that Lopez "is not used to being alone and is worried that other detainees may cause her harm.

“She has requested me to join her so she may have peace of mind and get adequate rest,” Duterte wrote.

In a separate letter to Chua, she wrote that she intended to visit Lopez daily for the entire duration of the aide’s detention.

Duterte spent the night on Thursday in her brother’s office and left yesterday morning, returning later to announce her decision to spend the weekend at the House premises.

In an interview with radio dzBB earlier yesterday, House Secretary General Reginald Velasco confirmed that Duterte arrived at the House premises at around 7:40 p.m. on Thursday.

Velasco said Duterte and Lopez met at the Visitors’ Center because it was already beyond the visiting hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Detention Facility where Lopez is currently staying.