THE House blue ribbon committee on Sunday told subpoenaed officials of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) to attend its hearing on Monday or face arrest.
The committee is investigating funds used by the OVP under Vice President Sara Duterte and by the Department of Education (DepEd) when she was its secretary.
"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, chairman of the panel, officially known as the Committee on Good Government and Accountability.
"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 added.
Subpoenaed were OVP Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez, Lemuel Ortonio, Rosalynne Sanchez, Gina Acosta, Julieta Villadelrey, Sunshine Charry Fajarda and Edward Fajarda. The last two are formerly from the DepEd and reportedly became part of the OVP.
Only Sanchez and Villadelrey have confirmed attendance, Chua said.
Last Tuesday, the committee resumed its probe without some of the resource persons.
In a letter dated Nov. 5, Lopez, Ortonio, Sanchez, Villadelrey, Acosta, Sunshine Charry Fajarda and Edward Fajarda said that the subject of the discussions in the probe "is not in aid of legislation" and that the House Committee on Appropriations "had the proper jurisdiction on the issues raised." They also said they have a right to refuse to attend the inquiry.
"Extreme caution must be made when discussing... issues that are pending before the Supreme Court lest we violate the rule on sub judice," they said.
Duterte attended the panel's first hearing on Sept. 18, during which she had accused lawmakers of making a case for her impeachment.
The House leadership denied that there was a move to impeach Duterte.
In a letter dated Sept. 23, Duterte informed Chua she would no longer attend the hearings.
She said that verification could be easily done "through the accomplishment reports submitted by the OVP to support its 2025 budget proposal and confirmed through various news reports, CoA (Commission on Audit) reports and postings on various social media platforms."
"Clearly, the conduct of a formal inquiry or hearing on the matter is unnecessary," Duterte said.
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