House orders detention of 4 OVP execs for continuously skipping fund 'misuse' probe

Four officials of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) have been ordered detained at the premises of the House of Representatives following their continued defiance to attend a congressional probe on Monday into the so-called fund misuse of the office.

The House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability had ruled to confine them in the House until it concluded the committee report and formally adopted it in plenary.

The officials were former Department of Education (DepEd) Assistant Secretary Sunshine Charry Fajarda, Special Disbursing Officer Edward Fajarda—both transferred in the OVP—OVP Assistant Chief of Staff and Bids and Awards Committee Chair Lemuel Ortonio, and Special Disbursing Officer Gina Acosta.

The four were among the seven OVP officials who were subpoenaed by the panel for their continuously disobeying summons to attend the legislative investigation despite show-cause orders.

In a position paper submitted to the committee, the officials asserted their right to decline the invitation, considering that they were only resource persons and not as accused in a criminal proceeding.

"Thus, they should be accorded respect and courtesy since they were under no compulsion to accept the invitation extended before them, yet they did so anyway," the letter reads.

Moreover, the four claimed that they had travel orders, prohibiting them from attending the investigation.

Meanwhile, Vice President Sara Duterte’s Chief of Staff, Zuleika Lopez, who left the country from Los Angeles, California, a day before she was scheduled to appear before the committee last week, was subjected to a subpoena for the second time. 

Similar to her peers, Lopez informed the panel that she had to travel abroad but for personal matters: to watch over her ill aunt, currently in a hospital in the United States. 

A new scheme?

Santa Rosa Rep. Dan Fernandez, however, wanted to include Lopez in the contempt order, suspecting that she was just making a lame excuse in an attempt to evade the congressional probe.

“As much as I wanted to agree with the humanitarian reason that being employed by this letter, I think let’s not accept this letter anymore, Mr. Chairman. They can always run, but they cannot hide anymore, Mr. Chairman,” Fernandez manifested. 

For humanitarian reasons, Deputy Speaker David Suarez, meanwhile, countered that the committee should extend “a little bit more understanding” to Lopez, but on the condition that she must be present in the next scheduled hearing.

"I am a reasonable person, [but] of course there is a limit. But if the case is really unavoidable [then let’s allow her]. Maybe in the next hearing of the committee, she may have no excuse not to attend,” he said in Filipino.

The inquiry centers on the handling of P612.5 million in confidential funds allocated to the OVP and DepEd. 

Allegations include misuse of P500 million in confidential funds by the OVP and an additional P125 million by DepEd during Duterte’s stint as Education Secretary. 

The Commission on Audit has flagged nearly half of the total, disallowing P73 million spent by the OVP within 11 days in the last quarter of 2022.

Despite four previous hearings, key OVP officials refused to attend the inquiry, leaving crucial questions about the use of confidential funds.