November 20, 2024 | 6:33pm
MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Vice President’s chief of staff denied a high-ranking Department of Education official due process before directing her to resign, following Vice President Sara Duterte’s instructions.
At the House Good Government and Public Accountability Committee’s sixth hearing on Wednesday, November 20, Rep. Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” Luistro (Batangas, 2nd District) asked OVP Chief of Staff Zuleika Lopez to narrate how she informed DepEd officials to resign in 2023.
Luistro was pertaining to former DepEd Undersecretary Gloria Mercado, who said had received nine cash envelopes containing P50,000 each from Duterte in 2023. Two other DepEd officials admitted having received cash envelopes as well.
Lopez confirmed that she instructed Mercado to submit a resignation letter the same day, citing Duterte’s “loss of trust and confidence” in her.
“Yes, I was instructed by the vice president to do so,” she told Luistro.
Luistro was quick to point out that Lopez previously said that she does not involve herself in DepEd’s operations.
The chief of staff insisted that it was an “isolated incident,” maintaining that she had a legal basis to advise Mercado to resign even though she is not from DepEd.
“It was an instruction given to me by my principal and at the same time my principal was also the secretary of [DepEd],” Lopez said.
Lopez said that Duterte instructed former OVP and DepEd spokesperson Michael Poa not to inform Mercado of the resignation, fearing it could create “friction among senior DepEd officials.”
However, Lopez denied Mercado’s claim that the resignation request was linked to her refusal to allow negotiations between bidders for the DepEd’s Computerization Program 2022 budget.
Mercado retired instead of resigning because she believed the reason she should resign was unfounded.
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Lopez said that it was the OVP Assistant Chief of Staff Lemuel Ortonio who called up Mercado and asked her to visit the OVP’s central office. Ortonio skipped the hearing again.
Constructive dismissal
Luistro then quizzed Lopez, who is also a lawyer, whether she followed the requirements of the fundamental right to due process.
The lawmaker implied that being ordered to resign solely due to the agency head’s claim of “lost trust and confidence” is a situation that warrants due process.
“You are a lawyer. It is fundamental upon us to follow due process. … Did you follow the requirements of due process before you asked Usec. Mercado to resign?” Luistro asked.
Lopez only said that she “told Mercado the reasons why” she was asked to resign and confirmed that she “gave her ample time to explain her side.”
However, Lopez clarified that she informed Mercado that, as the OVP chief of staff, she was “not the person” Mercado should be explaining her reasons to, since she is not part of DepEd.
“I told her to take these concerns to the chief of staff or the Office of the Secretary of the Department of Education,” she said.
Luistro found this “unfair” since Lopez, an OVP personnel, was the one who advised Mercado to tender her resignation that same day.
The lawmaker then asked Lopez if she gave Mercado a copy of the complaint, set a hearing or come up with a resolution on the issue charged against her. The chief of staff said, “No,” to all questions.
Luistro described this as a form of constructive dismissal, noting that Mercado was not given notice of the complaint, a hearing, or a resolution regarding the resignation order.
“And therefore you didn’t follow the requirements of due process,” she said.
Lopez also revealed that other officials were asked to resign, such as DepEd Undersecretary Kris Ablan and Assistant Secretary Christopher Lawrence Arnuco, Undersecretary Jose Arutor “Brady” de Castro.
Ablan and Arnuco were two officials involved in DepEd’s Computerization Program. Ablan had previously said that he did not resign due to issues surrounding unpaid fees in one of the laptop deals.
The House Blue Ribbon Committee has been investigating the Office of the Vice President’s and DepEd’s alleged misuse of confidential funds under Duterte. Lopez, however, insisted that she knows nothing about it, despite being the chief of staff.
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