House prosecutors are preparing for former Department of Education (DepEd) chief of staff Michael Wesley Poa to potentially invoke attorney-client privilege when he takes the witness stand this week in the Senate impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Z. Duterte.
House leaders described Poa as a “central figure” whose testimony could help answer key questions surrounding Duterte’s alleged misuse of confidential funds during her tenure as education secretary.
“Central figure po kasi siya, eh. So hostile witness man si Atty. Poa o hindi, I believe he’s one of the central figures po sa impeachment na ito at dito po sa article na ito,” Deputy Speaker and La Union Rep. Paolo Ortega V said during an online press briefing.
Poa, who previously served as DepEd undersecretary, chief of staff and spokesperson under Duterte, currently serves as part of her legal defense team in the ongoing trial.
The prosecution plans to present Poa this week and will formally request that the Senate Impeachment Court declare him a hostile witness. Should the court grant the motion, Poa will become the prosecution’s third hostile witness, following former Office of the Vice President (OVP) special disbursing officer Gina Acosta and Assistant Secretary Lemuel Ortonio.
Under a contingency ruling by Presiding Officer Francis Escudero, Poa could take the stand as early as Tuesday if two scheduled military witnesses fail to appear, maximizing trial time.
Addressing concerns regarding Poa’s dual capacity as a witness and defense counsel, Ortega stated that the House prosecution panel has mapped out strategies to navigate potential privilege claims.
“Well, isa po ’yan sa pinaghahandaan ng prosecution,” Ortega explained. “Kung hiningi ng prosecutors o ng prosecution team na maging parte po siya sa roster of witnesses, kahit na hostile witness po siya, ibig sabihin nakahanda po ’yung team para po sa kahit anong bagay na kanyang maaaring sabihin or i-invoke, or ultimately kung strategy man nila ’yon.”
Poa has expressed willingness to testify on matters concerning his previous tenure at DepEd, while indicating he may invoke attorney-client privilege only when questions directly touch on his current role as Duterte’s counsel.
House Committee on Human Rights Chairperson and Manila Rep. Bienvenido “Benny” Abante Jr. emphasized that Poa is being summoned to testify on his personal knowledge as a high-ranking DepEd official, not because of his current role on the defense team.
“Atty. Michael Poa is just part and parcel of the impeachment, but he is not the impeachable officer, alam naman natin ’yan, eh,” Abante said. “Ang gusto natin malaman, ano ang alam niya tungkol sa pinagagawa ng ating Vice President, particularly sa confidential funds.”
A central topic of Poa’s expected examination concerns military certifications submitted in response to Commission on Audit (COA) findings involving roughly P15 million in confidential fund expenditures, including items tied to Youth Leadership Summits. During the 2024 House inquiry, former DepEd Undersecretary Nolasco Mempin testified that he retrieved military certifications at Poa’s explicit request while preparing the department’s official audit response.
Ortega stressed that the impeachment court provides the appropriate venue to resolve unanswered questions from the previous congressional inquiry. He noted that Poa likely holds more substantive information regarding the confidential fund operations than Col. Raymund Dante Lachica, the former OVP security officer who received confidential funds from Acosta under Duterte’s orders.
“Dahil sa tingin ko, at the end of the day, mas marami pong information na alam si Atty. Poa kaysa po kay Lachica,” Ortega added.
The House prosecution panel is currently building its case under Article I of the impeachment complaint, which centers on allegations that Duterte misused, misappropriated and irregularly liquidated P612.5 million in confidential funds, P500 million under the OVP covering late 2022 through the third quarter of 2023 and P112.5 million under DepEd in 2023.