Detained Sara aide transferred to hospital

After a standoff triggered by Vice President Sara Duterte's attempt to keep her detained chief of staff Zuleika Lopez from getting transferred to the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW), the House of Representatives finally settled for hospital detention for the latter.

In a memorandum, House Secretary General Reginald Velasco said that at 1:15 p.m. Saturday, Lopez was transferred to the government-owned Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) from St. Luke's Medical Center, where she had preferred to stay while under detention.

“Considering that, as requested, Atty. Zuleika Lopez has been examined by the physicians and cleared by the St. Luke’s Medical Center, Quezon City, you are directed to transfer Atty. Lopez to the Veterans Memorial Medical Center, Quezon City,” Velasco said in a memorandum to House Sergeant-At-Arms retired Gen. Napoleon Taas.

“This is consistent with the standard practice of the House of Representatives to entrust detainees to government facilities,” he added.

He said VMMC doctors “can completely examine her and verify her state of health.” Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III, who personally informed Duterte and Lopez of the latter’s transfer to the VMMC, said St. Luke’s had not yet finished the tests on her.

“The report that we got from PNP doctors showed that all her vitals are normal, including the ECG. That is why we are wondering why she has to be transferred to the St. Luke’s Medical Center,” Taas said.

“Perhaps second opinion, just for added peace of mind. But the last report to us by PNP doctors is her condition is normal. She is in pretty good shape,” he added.

Taas said the initial observation from the attending PNP doctor pointed to a panic attack as a possible cause of Lopez’s distress.

Lopez was ordered detained on Wednesday by the House committee on good government and public accountability after being cited for contempt for “undue interference” in House proceedings on the confidential budget of the Office of the Vice President.