Vice President Sara Duterte (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)

Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability Chairman Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua said that a request from Vice President Sara Duterte to jog within the House of Representatives triggered an emergency meeting among congressmen that ultimately led to lawyer Zuleika Lopez's transfer order.

Lopez, Office of the Vice President (OVP) chief-of-staff, had been detained at the House since Wednesday, Nov. 20. Duterte visited her on Thursday night, and then elected to stay with her in defiance of House rules.

Before dawn Saturday, Nov. 23, the Sergeant-at-Arms Office tried to enforce an order of the good government panel to transfer Lopez to the Women’s Correctional Facility in Mandaluyong City. 

Chua, in a press conference early Saturday, bared the series of events that led to Lopez's transfer order. 

“Nakatanggap po kasi kami ng dalawang sulat. Yung isang sulat po ay galing po kay Cong. Pulong Duterte kung saan ini-inform po niya ang committee na ang Vice President daw ay pinapayagan niya na mag-stay sa kanyang opisina,” he stated.

(It's because we received two letters. One letter came from Cong Pulong Duterte wherein he informed the committee that he was letting the Vice President use his office.)

“At yung pangalawang sulat, nakatanggap po kami ng sulat mula sa Vice President na payagan siya na mag-jogging sa vicinity ng House of Representatives,” Chua disclosed.

(As for the second one, we received a letter from the Vice President asking for permission to jog in the vicinity of the House of Representatives.)

He said the two "unusual" letters, coupled with social media posts about the issue, caused concern among the committee members. This prompted them to hold a special Zoom meeting to address the security concerns. 

“Na-alarm po ang ibang mga miyembro kasi may nagpo-post na po sa Facebook tungkol po dito sa mga sulat,” Chua said.

(Some of the members were alarmed because people were posting on Facebook about these letters.)

The discussions during the online meeting centered on the risks posed by Lopez’s continued presence in the House. 

“Isa po sa napag-usapan ay yung mga security risk, hindi lang po ng ating House of Representatives pati na rin po ng ating Vice President,” Chua explained.

(Among those discussed was the security risk, not only on the House of Representatives but also to our Vice President.)

The House leader said that the committee members agreed on the need to transfer Lopez to a facility with better security capabilities--in this case, the Women’s Correctional Facility.

Sergeant-at-Arms Napoleon Taas, who joined Chua in the presser, said the Vice President’s intervention escalated when she physically prevented Lopez's transfer.

In the end, Vice President Duterte left the House to accompany Lopez in a medical check-up. The latter has yet to be taken to the women's correctional as of this posting.