Vice President Sara Duterte (Santi San Juan/MANILA BULLETIN)

Attend the scheduled hearing on Monday, Nov. 11, or face arrest.

This wa the final warning from the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability to subpoenaed officials of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) who have failed to appear in the ongoing inquiry on four separate hearings. 

“The committee has summoned these officials multiple times, yet they continue to disregard our lawful requests to appear,” said Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua, the panel chairperson. 

“These absences reflect a blatant disregard for the authority of Congress and are unacceptable. If they fail to appear again, we are prepared to issue orders for their arrest,” he stressed.

Chua’s panel, also known as the House Blue Ribbon Committee, is probing the alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds allocated to the OVP and the Department of Education (DepEd) during the tenure of Vice President Sara Duterte as secretary.

During the hearing on Nov. 4, the committee issued another subpoena ad testificandum to seven OVP officials to compel their attendance in the next hearing.

The officials are as follows: OVP Chief of Staff Zuleika Lopez, Assistant Chief of Staff and Bids and Awards Committee Chair Lemuel Ortonio, Administrative and Financial Services Director Rosalynne Sanchez, Special Disbursing Officer (SDO) Gina Acosta, Chief Accountant Juleita Villadelrey, former Department of Education (DepEd) Assistant Secretary Sunshine Charry Fajarda, and SDO Edward Fajarda.

The panel is demanding the participation of these officials to provide the panel with a detailed explanation of the handling of confidential funds under Duterte’s watch.

Also at the previous hearing, lawmakers learned that Lopez—the Vice President’s trusted aide–had left the country a day before she was scheduled to appear.

Earlier, the committee requested the Department of Justice (DOJ) to place the subpoenaed OVP officials on an immigration lookout bulletin order amid concerns that they might evade the probe.

While the order does not prohibit departure, it notifies the panel if the officials are trying to leave the country.

According to Chua, as of Sunday, only Sanchez and Villadelrey have confirmed their attendance at the hearing on Monday.

If the other officials fail to appear anew, it would mark the fifth time that they have snubbed the panel.

“The committee has been more than fair in giving these officials ample opportunities to cooperate,” Chua said.

“If they fail to appear this time, they leave us no choice but to impose heavier penalties, including contempt and potential arrest and detention,” he added.