Sara Duterte trial recap, Sept. 2: Michael Poa on the stand
MANILA, Philippines — The impeachment court on Wednesday, September 2, heard from its latest hostile witness, defense counsel and former DepEd spokesperson and chief of staff Michael Poa.
Poa, who is also part of Vice President Sara Duterte's defense team, was DepEd's chief of staff and later concurrently officer-in-charge undersecretary for finance under then-Secretary Duterte.
He signed the department's official reply to a Commission on Audit inquiry into the department's P112.5 million in confidential funds.
Prosecution offered him as a witness specifically because, in counsel to the prosecution Benjamin Tolosa Jr.'s words, Poa was made to answer for the use and liquidation of those funds "despite knowing nothing" about how it was actually spent on the ground, and because, in the prosecution's view, "every road leads to the vice president."
Duterte's trial entered its 21st day today with hours of testimony chipping at DepEd's paper trail justifying P15.54 million in confidential fund rewards, repeated procedural clashes between prosecution and defense over how far Tolosa could go in confronting Poa with his own past testimonies at the House of Representatives, and a new stretch of trial dates set for October and November.
Here are the highlights from today's proceedings:
1. Poa didn't know DepEd had a security officer until House hearings
Poa testified he was not aware DepEd had a designated security officer handling confidential funds, Col. Dennis Nolasco, until it surfaced in House hearings, well after he had already signed off on DepEd's response to COA.
Under questioning from Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian, Poa said the special disbursing officer he consulted while preparing that response, DepEd SDO Edward Fajarda, never told him he personally handed rewards to informants.
Whenever he asked for details, Poa said the officer pointed only to "the field." Poa confirmed he never spoke with Nolasco and didn't know he existed at the time: "Hindi ko po alam na may security officer at hindi ko po nakita or nakilala si Colonel Nolasco nung panahon ko po sa DepEd."
Asked why he didn't approach the security officer directly, Poa said he would have, had he known one existed.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros pressed further on when and how Poa learned this. Poa said he only found out during the 2024 House hearings, realizing then that "the field" the SDO kept referring to was actually Nolasco.
Hontiveros' expressed disbelief, saying: "Para katulad 'yun ng hindi alam ng chief of staff ko sa office ko dito sa Senado na may chief security ako at hindi kilala ng chief of staff ko 'yung chief security. Impossible para sa akin."
Poa agreed it struck him as unusual too, but added that by the time he learned of Nolasco's role, impeachment complaints against Duterte were already being filed and he had become her legal counsel, limiting what he can now discuss under attorney-client privilege.
Meanwhile, Sen. Imee Marcos pressed Poa on how, as DepEd chief of staff, he could have had no role in confidential funds at all.
Throughout the direct and cross examination, Poa repeatedly testified to having no personal knowledge of operations on the ground.
Poa described Duterte's office as "highly compartmentalized" where different units would be confined to knowing only what was within their mandate. Poa said Duterte instructed him to primarily keep DepEd's undersecretaries from feuding, and achieving the targets under DepEd's "Matatag" agenda, the post-pandemic education reform DepEd launched under Duterte.
Asked by Hontiveros whether OVP and DepEd staff who assisted Duterte could face legal liability if she's convicted, and whether he himself could be included, Poa answered: "Possible naman po... Posible po. Sana po hindi, pero posible po."
2. Prosecution, defense clash repeatedly over video playback and past testimony
Lead defense counsel Sheila Sison objected repeatedly as Tolosa tried to confront Poa with his October 2024 House testimonies, at several points successfully blocking playback of video clips of Poa's exchanges with House members.
At one point, Tolosa hit back at the objections, saying: "This is not an opportunity that should be used by the Defense to pontificate [or] argue their position... Just state your objection, no need to pontificate and explain your theory of the case."
At this, presiding officer Sen. Chiz Escudero has quipped: "The prosecution has had its fair share of pontificating. I think you're still ahead by a couple."
He ultimately sided with the defense on the issue, limiting Tolosa to reading Poa's own prior answers into the record rather than replaying footage, after Sison argued that showing a lawmaker's side of the exchange amounted to using a third party's statements against the witness.
Earlier in the day, Escudero also ordered a remark by Tolosa describing Poa as "abugadong walang alam," a lawyer who knows nothing, stricken from the record for being discourteous.
Tolosa had explained his use of the phrase was in the context of Poa claiming no personal knowledge of how confidential funds were spent during actual activities.
3. New witnesses, and a packed trial calendar through November
Before adjourning, the court issued subpoenas for five more witnesses to testify September 7 to 9: Fajarda himself, Philippine Statistics Authority official Marizza Grande, and three others.
The prosecution also floated a number of possible stipulations to spare Fajardo, reportedly in poor health, from testifying in person.
Escudero also outlined a tentative schedule of full-day sessions running October 1–2 and October 5–9, pausing for the Senate's budget hearings, then resuming for two Mondays only in November.
Senators JV Ejercito and Juan Miguel Zubiri warned of the strain of running the trial alongside plenary sessions and the 2027 national budget deliberations. Ejercito said the Senate risks passing a reenacted budget without adjustments to its schedule. A caucus has been set where senators will discuss their options.
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