FORMER Department of Education (DepEd) chief of staff and spokesperson Michael Poa confirmed on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, that not a single peso from the agency’s confidential funds was allocated for the conduct of the Youth Leadership Summit (YLS) led by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
Poa, who is part of the defense team of Vice President Sara Duterte, took the witness stand on the 21st day of the impeachment trial. He was declared a hostile witness by the Senate impeachment court presiding officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero.
“Yes, sir. I confirm that… as to confidential funds,” said Poa.
As the officer-in-charge of the finance department and the chief of staff of DepEd during the time of Duterte as the secretary in 2023, Poa drafted the agency’s response to the Audit Observation Memorandum (AOM) issued by the Commission on Audit (COA), which covers P75 million in confidential expenses of the education department from February 20 to June 29, 2023.
COA issues AOM to inform a government agency about the issues, deficiencies or irregularities that auditors found during an audit.
In the case of DepEd, the COA was asking for additional documentary evidence to support the use of their confidential funds during the said period.
Maintaining that he was not aware of the confidential operations of the DepEd during his tenure, Poa said he asked then Special Disbursing Officer (SDO) Edward Fajarda for supporting documentary evidence to be able to respond to the AOM.
He said Fajarda was solely responsible for disbursing the agency’s confidential funds.
Poa said the SDO asked him to tap then DepEd undersecretary retired Major General Nolasco Mempin for the submission of documentary evidence.
He said among the supporting documents handed to him were certification issued by the concerned AFP units on the success of the YLS, which aims to prevent youth recruitment to violent extremism.
Poa said his “theory” based on the certification he received was that the information provided by the DepEd from its confidential information contributed in the success of the AFP’s YLS, particularly in identifying the venue for the event and the targeted participants.
“Ang sinasabi po kasi ng SDO, ‘yung mga rewards, ginagawa nila, binibigay nila ‘yung rewards dun sa nakakapagbigay ng information sa kanila. Ngayon, pagdating po dito sa nakuha ko ‘yung mga certification, nakasulat naman po dun sa certification na because of the information given by DepEd or intelligence pa nga sa isang sulat, na-target nila ‘yung locations kung saan pwede sila maglunsad nitong mga programa ng YLS ng AFP,” he said.
“Base po doon kaya ko sinasabi ‘yung information derived from the informers yun po ‘yung nagging pamamaraan kung paano na-identify ‘yung mga areas doon ko pinagsama ‘yung sinabi ng SDO at nung nakuha kong certification,” he added.
During a House committee hearing in 2024, Fajarda testified that he turned over DepEd confidential fund cash he withdrew to then DepEd security office Colonel Dennis Nolasco for distribution.
Poa said at the time he asked Fajarda for documentary evidence, he was not aware of the presence of Nolasco, noting that he only found out that the DepEd had a security officer when the SDO testified before the House committee.
He said Duterte was well aware of the department’s response to COA’s AOM, which includes the certifications issued by the concerned AFP units.
Army colonels Manaros Boransing II and Magtanggol Panopio, who both led AFP units that carried out YLS, during their testimonies before the impeachment court on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, denied that they issued certifications attesting to the propriety of the DepEd’s P15-million confidential fund spending in 2023.
Boransing and Panopio said such certifications were only issued to attest to the successful conduct and attendance of participants in the YLS and Information Education Campaign.
They both said that they are not aware that the DepEd will use the document for the liquidation of their confidential funds.
Defense counsel Sheila Sison countered, however, that these certifications were made by the military with full knowledge that it would cover “any legal purpose it may serve.”
In her cross examination to Poa, Sison highlighted the credit notice issued by the COA covering DepEd’s P75-million confidential funds.
Poa explained that a credit notice is being issued after the conduct of audit, which indicates that the disbursed funds were allowed.
Sison pointed out that while COA may re-examine the credit notice up until three years after it was issued, the agency has not reopened the audit and that no notices of suspension or disallowance are known to have been issued as far as the AOMs issued during the said period were concerned.
“As far as you know from your stay in the Department of Education or up until this point, there has been no such effort from the Commission on Audit to reopen that credit notice for the first and second quarter, correct?” she asked Poa.
“And so if there’s also a credit notice, you are also aware that this is an official document issued by the COA basically or essentially stating that the funds or the subject expenditures were audited and cleared in audit. You are aware of that. And since there’s a credit notice, this audit observation memorandum or memoranda for first and the second quarter that the council had confronted you with earlier during your direct examination, these two AOMs did not just state into any notice of suspension, correct? And as to the third quarter, also at this point, no notice of suspension, correct?” she added.
Poa answered the said questions in the affirmative. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)
