THE House prosecution will put Vice President Sara Z. Duterte’s defense lawyer and former Department of Education (DepEd) chief of staff Michael Wesley Poa on the witness stand next week as it digs deeper into the alleged misuse of P112.5 million in DepEd confidential funds.
Lead prosecutor Batangas Rep. Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” Luistro informed the Senate impeachment court Wednesday that the prosecution would present Poa and Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Assistant National Statistician Marizza Grande on Sept. 2.
Poa served as Duterte’s chief of staff and spokesperson when she was education secretary and is now part of her defense team in the impeachment trial.
“In order to maximize the schedule that is given to us by the Honorable Impeachment Court for September 2, that is next Wednesday, Your Honor, we would like to respectfully move for the issuance of subpoena ad testificandum to Attorney Michael Wesley T. Poa, if the same should be necessary, as well as to Ms. Marizza B. Grande of the [PSA],” Luistro said.
Presiding Officer Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero noted that Poa was already present in court and “more than willing to testify,” making a subpoena unnecessary.
Escudero said Poa could take the witness stand as early as Sept. 1 if either of the two military witnesses scheduled that day fails to appear.
“Given that Atty. Poa is here and more than willing to testify, as intimated earlier, then we jump to Atty. Poa, should the other earlier two witnesses fail to appear on September 1, without need of issuing a subpoena to Atty. Poa,” Escudero said.
“We submit to that, Your Honor,” Luistro replied.
The two military witnesses are Col. Manaros Boransing II and Col. Magtangol Panopio. Their certifications figured in DepEd’s response to Commission on Audit (COA) findings on its confidential fund expenditures.
The officers previously testified during a House investigation that their military units did not receive DepEd confidential funds for activities covered by the certifications, including Youth Leadership Summits.
Poa had a role in obtaining and submitting the military certifications as DepEd prepared its response to COA findings.
He was previously identified in House proceedings as having material information on the preparation of accomplishment reports involving the department’s confidential funds.
Boransing was supposed to testify Wednesday but asked that his appearance be moved because he needed to coordinate with his military superiors before leaving his post.
Escudero granted the request, citing the “exigencies of his position” as commanding officer of Task Force Zamboanga, and reset his appearance to Sept. 1. Panopio is also scheduled to appear that day.
The prosecution dropped retired Maj. Gen. Adonis Bajao as a witness after the court encountered difficulty serving him a subpoena because his address could not be established.
Grande, meanwhile, is expected to testify on PSA verification of names appearing in acknowledgment receipts submitted to account for confidential fund expenditures.
The prosecution has said PSA findings would form part of its evidence concerning purported confidential fund recipients whose identities could not be verified in official civil registry records.
The impeachment court also granted the prosecution’s request Wednesday to mark additional documents it received from the PSA ahead of Grande’s testimony.
The prosecution is presenting the witnesses under the first article of impeachment accusing Duterte of misusing P612.5 million in confidential funds, consisting of P500 million released to the Office of the Vice President and P112.5 million to DepEd
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