Facing questions on the twenty-first day of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, defense counsel Atty. Michael Poa told the Senate impeachment court that Duterte declined to walk him through the specifics of the confidential funds, and that he chose not to press her further once it was clear she would not elaborate.
The account came Wednesday, September 2, as Poa responded to a line of questioning from Senator-judge Imee Marcos. Poa, who had already served as spokesperson under Duterte when she led the Department of Education, said he had raised the subject with her early in his stint, wanting to know what he should tell reporters if they pressed him on the funds.
“Pagdating naman po sa confidential funds, hindi na po ako na-involve doon. Marami rin po nagsasabi eh bakit hindi ko tinanong. Actually, nung spokesperson pa lang po ako, nagtatanong na po ako sa Bise Presidente, ‘Ano po sasagutin ko sa media pag tinanong sa’kin ‘yung confidential funds?'” he said.
By his telling, Duterte instructed him to keep any public answers general. “Ang sabi po niya, ‘Sabihin mo lang na ginagamit ‘yan for anti-insurgency, anti ganito.’ Sabi ko, ‘Eh papaano po pag humingi ng detalye?'” Ang sabi sa akin, ‘Ang mga detalye na ‘yan hindi dapat isinasapubliko kasi ma-je-jeopardize hindi lang tayo pero ang intelligence community.'” he recounted.
Poa said he read the response as a signal to stop digging. “From me, ang basa ko naman dun, ayaw niyang i-share sa akin ‘yung details so hindi na ako nagpumilit alamin pa,” he explained.
Poa occupies an unusual position in the proceedings. Beyond his current role on Duterte’s defense team, he held the posts of DepEd undersecretary, chief of staff, and spokesperson across her two-year run as education secretary, which ended in June 2024. That overlap is precisely why the House prosecution called him: lead prosecutor Gerville Luistro of Batangas had said Poa would be asked to account for how the department moved P112.5 million in confidential funds during that period, part of the P612.5 million in secret money the first article of impeachment says was misused, according to the Philippine News Agency.
Presiding officer Sen. Francis Escudero noted before the testimony that no subpoena was needed to compel Poa, since he was present in court and had signaled his willingness to take the stand, PNA reported. He had stepped away from his defense spokesperson duties for the duration of his appearance as a witness.
The prosecution had spent days framing Poa as someone who could not credibly plead ignorance. Deputy Speaker Paolo Ortega V of La Union called him a “central figure” in the confidential fund charge, per Philstar and The Filipino Times, pointing to Poa’s own statements before a 2024 House inquiry. In that earlier proceeding, Poa said he had asked then-DepEd Undersecretary Nolasco Mempin to secure military certifications backing the department’s use of confidential funds tied to a Youth Leadership Seminar, as reported by The Filipino Times.
Prosecutors had also flagged, before Wednesday, that they might move to have Poa declared a hostile witness, though Philstar noted such a designation could only follow his formal presentation on the stand. Among the threads they wanted him to address were military certifications invoked in DepEd’s reply to Commission on Audit findings covering roughly P15 million in confidential fund spending.
