THE House prosecution panel is eyeing Michael Poa, a member of the defense team in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, as a hostile witness, citing the lawyer’s previous role as undersecretary of the Department of Education.
Poa would be treated as a hostile witness because he was the vice president’s lawyer.
“So, he’s adversarial to the position that the prosecution panel is standing on,” prosecution spokesman and Lanao Del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said in a press briefing.
“Without giving too much information because this has yet to be laid out in open court, what I can tell you right now is the official designation of attorney Poa,” he added.
The prosecution is eyeing Poa because he responded to the Audit Observation Memoranda (AOMs) issued by the Commission on Audit (COA) concerning DepEd’s confidential funds.
The final determination of Poa’s status, however, rests with the Senate impeachment court.
“He needs to qualify as a hostile witness, as only the impeachment court can actually qualify him as such,” Adiong said.
The DepEd confidential fund issue is part of Article I of the impeachment complaint, which alleges systematic misuse, misappropriation, and irregular liquidation of confidential funds under the OVP and DepEd during Duterte’s tenure.
Attorney-client privilege Poa said he is ready to take the witness stand but will invoke attorney-client privilege on matters covered by his communications with the vice president.
Poa said his testimony was expected since the pre-trial proceedings and that he has no problem answering questions before the impeachment court.
“Of course, when it comes to my discussions, I mean, [I will say] what I only know when I became the lawyer of our vice president, that is covered by attorney-client privilege,” he said during the post-trial briefing of the defense on Wednesday.
He said he would answer questions based on his personal knowledge and would not invoke the privilege when it is not necessary.
Poa also distinguished his work as Duterte’s lawyer from his previous role at the Department of Education, saying he would answer questions concerning his participation in responding to an audit observation memorandum.
“If the scope of the question is about DepEd and what my participation was, which was the AOM, just the reply to the AOM, I will answer that, just as I did in the House,” he said.
Poa said he testified on the matter before the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability.
“I already said my piece, and basically it will just be a repetition,” he said when asked if he was ready to testify.
Poa’s testimony is expected to cover his involvement in matters related to Duterte, including his previous government work, while he is also expected to draw a line around information obtained through his lawyer-client relationship with the vice president.
Davao funds
Meanwhile, the testimony of Office of the Vice President Assistant Secretary Lemuel Ortonio has prompted former Bayan Muna representative Neri Colmenares to call on the Commission on Audit (COA) to investigate Vice President Sara Duterte’s confidential fund expenditures in Davao City.
“Ortonio’s testimony, disavowing knowledge of the disbursement of OVP confidential funds, only further implicates Vice President Sara Duterte on the misuse of confidential funds,” Colmenares said on Thursday.
Ortonio testified that Duterte knew how the OVP confidential funds were implemented, while former OVP special disbursing officer Gina Acosta testified that Duterte instructed her to release P125 million in confidential funds to Col. Raymund Dante Lachica.
Colmenares said the testimonies showed that Duterte’s authorization was necessary for confidential fund disbursements, strengthening the prosecution’s allegations in the impeachment case.
He asked COA to conduct a special audit of Davao City’s confidential fund expenditures from 2016 to 2025, covering Duterte’s tenure as mayor and the years that followed.
In 2023, Bayan Muna asked COA to investigate Davao City’s confidential fund disbursements from 2019 to 2022 for possible violations of Joint Circular 2015-01.
Colmenares said Davao City’s confidential fund allocation increased from P144 million in 2016 to P293 million in 2017, P420 million in 2018, and P460 million annually from 2019 to 2022.
He said the allocation further increased to P530 million in 2023 and 2024, after Duterte had left the mayor’s office.
“Public officials who misuse public funds, including abuse of the budget for confidential funds, must be held to account,” Colmenares said.
He said the testimonies of Ortonio and Acosta warranted a thorough audit because both officials had served under Duterte and testified about the handling of confidential funds.
Colmenares also urged the Ombudsman to investigate Duterte, Acosta and Ortonio for possible violations of Republic Act 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, as well as other laws governing confidential funds.
He said the Ombudsman should also pursue possible charges against Duterte for the alleged violation of Article 218 of the Revised Penal Code, which covers the failure of accountable officers to render accounts.
Colmenares further called for the removal of confidential funds from civilian agencies in the proposed 2027 national budget.
