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OVP says Sara Duterte's chief of staff left for US on 'personal' trip

Philippines | National

OVP says Sara Duterte's chief of staff left for US on 'personal' trip

By Raymund Antonio

The Office of the Vice President (OVP) on Wednesday, Nov. 6, confirmed the travel of chief of staff Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez to the United States but clarified that it was a “personal” trip.

Vice President Sara Duterte (OVP/Facebook)

In a statement, the OVP said that Lopez will be overseas from Nov. 4 to 16.

“The OVP Chief of Staff’s travel was personal and unrelated to her employment with the OVP,” the statement read.

“Speculations about the purpose of this travel are unfounded and unnecessary. We request to respect the privacy of the family on this difficult time,” it added.

The OVP also explained that Lopez’s travel was approved by Vice President Sara Duterte after submitting the documents required of traveling government officials.

On Tuesday, Nov. 5, House committee secretary Sheryl Lagrosas told lawmakers during a House good government committee hearing that Duterte’s chief of staff left Manila for Los Angeles on Monday night.

Lopez was one of the seven OVP officials whom the House panel had asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to issue a lookout bulletin on for repeatedly skipping the committee’s hearings into the OVP’s alleged misuse of public funds.

Lopez, along with other OVP executives, submitted a position paper to the committee on Nov. 5, explaining why their non-attendance to the inquiry.

They reasoned out that they received the invitation for the Nov. 5 hearing only Nov. 4, and questioned the jurisdiction of the committee in conducting the inquiry.

Adding that there was no legislative agenda to the hearing, the OVP officials asked the committee to terminate the proceedings.

Related Tags

OVP HOUSE HEARING US trip

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