Vice President Sara Duterte’s chief of staff, Zuleika Lopez, made a surprise appearance at the Senate on Thursday morning, July 9, a day after the Senate impeachment court said it would subpoena her in connection with Duterte’s trial next week.

As she made her way to the Senate elevator to meet with Senate Secretary Renato Bantug Jr., Lopez dodged reporters’ questions about her possible appearance before the court. Bantug was later quoted by media as saying that the meeting with Lopez was more about “administrative matters” and nothing about the case.

Lopez continued to evade questions as she exited the building to wait for her car.  A GMA News video showed that as reporters continued to ask her about her trial appearance, Lopez, in her usual calm and composed demeanor, said: “Good morning everyone. Prepare for Typhoon Inday.”  

She was apparently referring to Typhoon Inday (Bavi) which was expected to trigger rain in parts of the country beginning that day. But then again, this is Lopez, the longtime aide of the Vice President who is also popularly known as “Inday Sara.” 

In response to Lopez’s remark, Deputy Speaker Paolo Ortega, who is part of the impeachment prosecution team, said, “Maghanda rin sila kasi usually, kapag bagyo, wala sila eh.” (They should also prepare because usually, when there’s a storm, they’re not around.)

Was Ortega referring to typhoons, in general, or Duterte’s absence at congressional hearings on alleged fund misuse in the agencies she handled and on the impeachment complaints against her? The Vice President was at the Senate days earlier, on July 7, but only to meet with her defense team and not to attend the second day of her trial. She also agreed to have a media interview at the Senate but left after delivering a one-liner she had prepared (and borrowed) for the occasion.

At the July 8 impeachment trial,  Duterte’s defense team sought to justify the Vice President’s assassination threat against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. by showing video excerpts of Lopez’s meltdown that directly preceded Duterte’s verbal rampage at a November 23, 2024 Zoom press conference. At the time, Lopez was questioning the move to transfer her to the Women’s Correctional Facility from the House of Representatives where she had been detained after she was cited for contempt.

The impeachment court had subpoenaed Lopez to appear in next week’s trial which is still focused on the fourth article of impeachment: culpable violation of the Constitution, high crimes, and betrayal of public trust related to Duterte’s alleged threats to assassinate Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former speaker Martin Romualdez.

The question on everyone’s minds is, if Lopez appears before the court, will she manage to remain cool and collected under questioning, just as she had done at the 2024 House committee on good government inquiry into the Vice President’s confidential funds? And if not, will the public again witness Duterte exposing her vulnerability when it comes to people close to her? – with a report from Dwight de Leon/Rappler.com