Dwayne Pelagio

Seven officials of the Office of the Vice President could be arrested as they failed to attend the hearing of the House’s committee on good government and public accountability on Nov. 12.

Photo Courtesy of Youtube/House of Representatives.

“The committee has summoned these officials multiple times, yet they continue to disregard our lawful requests to appear,” Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua said in a statement.

Chua warned that if they fail to appear again, they are prepared to issue orders for their arrest.

The OVP officials who have been subpoenaed by the House committee on good government and public accountability are 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 Gina Acosta; chief accountant Julieta Villadelrey; as well as couple Edward and Sunshine Charry Fajarda, who were previously with the Department of Education (DepEd) and transferred to the OVP when Duterte resigned as education secretary in June.

Lopez was reported by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) leaving the country for Los Angeles, California on Nov. 4, a day before she was scheduled to appear before the House panel investigation over the alleged misuse of P612.5 million allocated confidential funds to the OVP and DepEd.

Chua mentioned that only Sanchez and Villadelrey have confirmed attendance in the scheduled hearing.

The officials from the OVP declined to attend the House inquiry, stating that the deliberations were “not in aid of legislation.”

The BI will implement an Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order (ILBO) issued against the officials, following an order from the Department of Justice (DOJ).

BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado told media that the lookout order is for monitoring purposes only, and is not, in and by itself, sufficient to prohibit the subjects' departure from the country.