November 22, 2024 | 6:40pm
MANILA, Philippines — House of Representatives personnel had to extend their working hours and adjust building management protocols after Vice President Sara Duterte’s unannounced overnight stay at the Batasang Pambansa complex from Thursday night (November 21) until Friday morning (November 22).
Staff had to delay the routine power shutdown during long weekends at Batasan, typically implemented at 10:30 p.m., to 12:30 a.m. “in deference to the vice president,” House of Representatives Sergeant at Arms Napoleon Taas said at a press conference Friday.
This comes after Duterte flouted House rules by refusing to leave the premises after visiting her chief-of-staff, Zuleika Lopez, at the House detention center on Thursday night.
She camped overnight inside the office of her brother, Rep. Paolo Duterte (Davao City), after her request to be detained alongside Lopez was denied by Rep. Joel Chua, chairperson of the House good government panel.
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Taas himself had personally “appealed” for Duterte to vacate the premises at around 11 p.m. on Thursday.
Duterte is still inside the complex as of writing.
“I would like to take this opportunity to address the security detail of the Vice President. If possible, please consider visiting tomorrow instead of staying here overnight. We must double our security efforts at night since this concerns the vice president,” Taas said during the press conference in mixed Filipino and English.
“Last night, a lot of personnel worked overtime to ensure safety,” he added.
House Secretary General Reginald Velasco told Philstar.com that House staff who had to render overtime work due to Duterte’s overnight stay were compensated.
A matter of power. The routine power shutdown at the House is meant to save energy and prevent electrical fires from devices accidentally left plugged in during non-working days at the lower chamber, Taas said.
“If you will note, if you will go around Congress during Thursday, without Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we really turn off power,” he said.
The House proceeded with the power shutdown. Taas said they did not receive complaints from the vice president.
Power was restored at 7:30 a.m. Friday to accommodate personnel and finance office staff who needed to work at the South Wing Annex Complex, Taas said.
While the vice president’s brother has expressed in writing that he is willing to accommodate Duterte indefinitely, Chua said this would be “risky” and against House protocols.
Securing the vice president would also require more than the usual number of personnel. “I do not know if we have enough security to guard the vice president here,” Chua said in mixed English and Filipino.
“Imagine you’re going to stay… And just one office will be opened. And like what [Taas] said, [the airconditioning] is centralized, that does not seem acceptable,” he added.
Not the Cinderella hour. House rules also dictate that the latest a visitor can stay at the complex is at 7 p.m.
“Our policy is that when there is a session, we allow activities until 7 p.m. because, obviously, there are a lot of people from Monday to Wednesday. However, from Thursday to the weekend, it is subject to the committee’s approval, and there may be restrictions,” Taas said.
Chua appealed to Duterte and her team to be more considerate of House staff.
“Huwag po sanang sasama ang loob ni VP sa ating staff, mga ordinaryong tao lang yan, sila ay nagpapatupad lamang ng kanilang tungkulin,” he said.
(I hope the Vice President won’t take offense at our staff; they are just ordinary people doing their duty.)
Voluntary detention. In a letter to Chua, Duterte wrote that she wanted to be detained alongside Lopez due to her health issues and to ensure her safety and wellbeing, according to a copy sent to reporters.
Chua replied to Duterte and said he could not grant her request as the detention facility is strictly for those who have been ordered detained.
Duterte’s request to stay at the House detention center drew strong criticism from Rep. France Castro, who had cited Lopez in contempt for asking state auditors to withhold key documents related to the Office of the Vice President’s confidential funds.
“The Vice President has time to visit and even spend the night at the House of Representatives, but apparently has no time to face the Committee and explain to the Filipino people how hundreds of millions in confidential funds were spent under her watch,” Castro said in a statement on Friday.
“This selective appearance speaks volumes about accountability and transparency,” she added.
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