NEWS
VP Sara hit for blocking transfer of COS to facility for women convict
Photo from gmanetwork.com
11/23/24, 9:10 AM
The House of Representatives on Saturday (November 23) ordered lawyer Zuleika Lopez, chief of staff of the Office of the Vice President, be returned front he St. Luke’s Medical Center to the Veterans Memorial Medical Center.
In a media briefing. Police Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III, director general of the PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, said they had to comply with the directive of the Lower House to its sergeant-at-arms retired Gen. Napoleon Taas.
Upon hearing this, Lopez was seen embracing Vice President Sara Duterte, apparently fearing for her safety.
“Natatakot ako,” said Lopez, who was rushed to the hospital as a result of a reported panic attack triggered by an order by the House leadership for her transfer to a facility for women convicted of criminal offenses.
Lopez had been ordered detained in the Lower House premises after being cited for contempt during a hearing on alleged OVP fund irregularities conducted by the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability.
On Friday, the House panel decided to transfer her to the Women’s Correctional Institution for Women as it claimed that the presence of Duterte in the Batasan Pambansa compound in Quezon City has increased security issues within the premises.
Duterte visited Lopez on Thursday but had since refused to leave the Batasan compound in order to be with her chief of staff.
At around 11:30 pm on Friday the House security unit made an attempt to transfer Lopez to the CIW, but Duterte intervened to block it, claiming that she was standing as the legal counsel of her COS.
Taas assailed Duterte for getting in the way of the House security office’s bid to transport Lopez to the CIW.
He reported to the good government committee that the vice president “blocked the transfer order” and made an attempt to “physically prevent” them from enforcing the transfer order.
Taas also accused Duterte of disrupting the operations of his unit and of violating the visitation rules whiole “compromising security protocols” by bringing in unauthorized armed personnel.