Vice President Duterte remains at House premises
Vice President Sara Duterte went to the House of Representatives on Thursday to visit her chief of staff, who was cited in contempt during a hearing, and she has remained at the office of her brother, Davao Rep. Paolo Duterte, as of Friday night.
Duterte, after leaving the room where Zuleika Lopez was confined, proceeded to the office of her brother where she spent the night. She later visited Lopez in the morning and later in the day brought food.
She said in a late press conference on Friday she will stay in her brother's office until Nov. 25 when the House will conduct a hearing on how the Office of the Vice President and Department of Education spent its confidential funds last year.
Deputy House Speaker Rep. Jayjay Suarez said no one is exempted from the House rules but admits that Duterte cannot bpenalized from breaching its regulations.
In a television interview on Friday afternoon, Suarez said Duterte remained at premises of the House of Representatives in Quezon City after she refused to leave and even slept at the office of her brother on Thursday.
"As of now, she's still in the premises because visiting hours will be until five o'clock in the afternoon. So we're hoping that she can comply with the House rules and then at five o'clock, maybe she can vacate the house premises," he said.
"The House has already set protocols when it comes to visiting hours. So of course, we're also refused to take her out... Of course it would be against any logical mind to physically bring her out of the House premises," he added.
Suarez admitted that despite the breaching of House rules, Duterte cannot be cited in contempt and there are no penalties that can be implemented for the failure to comply with the House rules.
"Just because there's no penalties, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't follow them, right? So I think for the Filipino people, we're starting to see the image of a public official that we should not really look up to because it's really embarrassing," he said.
"We can only cite her in contempt when we're in a committee hearing. We're not in a committee hearing. I think, maybe if they can, we can talk about the reasonable thinking of the people to follow because all the detention facilities of the House, all their visitors follow the same rules. So what we don't understand is how come the second highest officer in the land can't follow the same rules that everybody has to abide by, regardless of who you are," he added.
Suarez also admitted that the security personnel in the House of Representatives are having a hard time securing her because of her presence.
More police have been sent to the House of Representatives.
"The personnel of the House is somewhat having a hard time because of the security concern that her presence may impose, I mean while she is in the premises, it is understood that her safety is under our care," he said.
Suarez noted that Duterte doesn't need to stay at the House of Representatives as the chairman of the House committee on good government, Manila Rep. Joel Chua, and the committee members allowed her to freely visit Lopez every day.
The House good government committee cited in contempt and ordered the detention of Lopez on Wednesday, due to her “undue interference in proceedings.”
Lopez will remain at detention facility until November 25, the date of the next probe into Vice President Sara Duterte's alleged misuse of confidential funds. Robina Asido/DMS
