THE next hearing of the House Committee on Justice may bring in a key figure in the questions surrounding the use of confidential funds at the Department of Education (DepEd), with a House leader saying Vice President Sara Z. Duterte’s former spokesman and chief-of-staff Michael Poa could shed light on how reports on the fund’s utilization were prepared.
House Assistant Majority Leader Zia Alonto Adiong of Lanao del Sur said Poa’s expected appearance matters because of the position he held when Duterte was still serving as Education secretary.
“Well, si Atty. Poa nagsabi din naman siya na willing siya na mag-attend, I mean to respect the subpoena and so he would be, I think I heard, I just saw one of the statements he was quoted in that he may be attending, and he has no intention to evade,” Adiong, chair of the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms, said.
That willingness to attend, Adiong added, may help the committee dig deeper into a part of the record that could prove important in the impeachment proceedings, particularly the handling and reporting of confidential funds during Duterte’s time at DepEd.
“According to one of the testimonies that was included in the complaint, the person who was invited in the previous hearings that we had during the 19th Congress even admitted that Atty. Poa was the one who actually prepared the report on the utilization of the confidential funds,” Adiong said.
“So that’s why he was invited, he was subpoenaed. He’d be expected to appear in the next committee hearing,” he added.
Adiong’s remarks place Poa in a more central position than that of a routine witness, because they suggest the committee wants to hear from someone who may have direct knowledge of how the paper trail on confidential fund use was prepared and presented.
“So he knew his capacity as Chief of Staff with a portfolio of Undersecretary during the time of the Vice President when she was then currently working as a Secretary of Education,” Adiong pointed out.
The lawmaker also said Poa’s stated willingness to show up should be recognized, especially at a time when the proceedings themselves are being challenged by Duterte’s camp.
“And by the way, on a personal level, I think Poa, in his statement, assured the committee that he will be attending the next committee hearing. I think he recognizes the legitimacy of this committee hearing regarding the impeachment complaint against Vice President Duterte,” Adiong said.
With the committee set to resume hearings after Holy Week, Poa’s attendance could become one of the more closely watched parts of the next round, especially if lawmakers use his testimony to connect records, reports, and decisions tied to the confidential funds issue now at the center of the impeachment case.
