The inclusion of former Department of Education (DepEd) Undersecretary and lawyer Michael Poa as part of Vice President Sara Duterte’s legal team amid her looming Senate impeachment trial is an effort to stop him from testifying against his former boss, a House leader said Tuesday.
House Assistant Majority Leader and Tingog party-list Rep. Jude Acidre issued the statement after Poa made his entry of appearance as co-counsel for Duterte in the latter’s petition to nullify the impeachment complaint against her.
“Well, ako kung ako tatanungin, medyo inaasahan ko na rin na gagawing kasama ng legal team si Atty. Mike Poa kasi sa totoo lang ho, pwede po silang magtago principle ng lawyer-client confidentiality. Makikita po natin ang isa na namang attempt to deflect,” Acidre said in a press conference.
(For me, it was not a surprise that Atty. Poa is in her legal team because they can hide behind the principle of attorney-client privilege. This is another attempt to deflect.)
“Sa tingin ko rito, sa hakbang na ito na ginawa ng kampo ni Vice President Duterte, sa tingin ko pagpigil ito para kay Mike Poa na tumestigo sa impeachment court at magsabi ng totoo,” Acidre added.
(I think this step is an attempt on the part of the Vice President to stop Atty. Poa from testifying before the impeachment court and from telling the truth.)
Sought for comment, Duterte’s office said Poa is no longer part of the OVP and the question is best addressed to him.
GMA News Online has also reached out to Poa and will publish his reply as soon as it becomes available.
During the previous House inquiry in October 2024, Poa had told lawmakers that he asked then DepEd Undersecretary and retired Major General Nolasco Mempin to ask for certifications from military units to justify OVP’s spending of the P15 million confidential funds for informants in 2023.
Poa insisted he did it in good faith since the Commission on Audit (COA), at that time, was asking the OVP to respond to an audit observation memorandum (AOM) that questioned the said spending.
“To be perfectly candid, Your Honor, ang dami ko pong trabaho sa DepEd. One of them was to comply with AOM. I’m not using that as an excuse. So kung ano pong documentation na available at that time na nasa OSEC (Office of the Secretary) or binigay sa amin, binigay sa OSEC, ‘yun fact na yun po… ‘yung impression ko na there was already coordination and information from DepEd,” Poa said.
(I have a lot of work in DepEd…I just used the documentation available in our office…I had the impression that there was already coordination and information from DepEd.)
“Humingi po ako ng reports of evidence of success as required by COA. Nung nakita ko po ‘yung report, ang pagkakaintindi ko po is hinold yung mga seminars due to coordination and information received from DepEd. So I took the certificate,” Poa added.
(I asked for reports of evidence of success, and when I saw the certification, I took it to mean that the seminars were held due to coordination and information received from DepEd.)
When the Vice President quit as Education chief, Poa left DepEd and was enlisted as spokesperson of the Vice President.
While testifying in another House probe in November 2024, Poa said his contract as a spokesperson for Duterte has already been terminated. —LDF, GMA Integrated News
