A House of Representatives committee on Monday cited in contempt four officials of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) for snubbing an inquiry into Vice-President Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio’s secret fund spending since 2022.
The House good government and public accountability panel on Monday ordered their arrest and detention at the Batasang Pambansa Complex in Quezon City after they had repeatedly ignored the committee’s previous invitations to attend.
The officials were believed to have overseen the disbursements of confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) by Ms. Carpio under the OVP’s budget in 2022 and the Education department in 2023, when she sat as its secretary.
“I move that we cite in contempt these individuals for their continuous defiance to attend the committee hearings,” Deputy Speaker and Quezon Rep. David C. Suarez said during the hearing.
“Given that the committee has already exercised patience and understanding to these resource persons… it’s their job to attend so they could explain how they spent the funds being discussed here,” he added in mixed English and Filipino. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio
