Senate impeachment court declares former DepEd official Michael Poa a hostile witness

The Senate Impeachment Court on Wednesday declared former Department of Education (DepEd) Chief of Staff Michael Wesley Poa a hostile witness, granting the House prosecution permission to subject him to cross-examination and use leading questions during its inquiry into Vice President Sara Duterte's confidential funds.

Presiding Officer Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero issued the ruling shortly before private prosecutor Benjamin “Jay” Tolosa Jr. began questioning Poa regarding the P112.5 million in DepEd confidential funds disbursed in 2023.

“The Chair will proceed to declare Atty. Poa as a hostile witness, therefore giving Atty. Tolosa the right to ask leading questions—but again, as a reminder, not to ask misleading questions,” Escudero ruled.

Poa, who previously served as DepEd undersecretary, chief of staff, and spokesperson under Duterte’s tenure as Education Secretary, currently sits on the Vice President’s impeachment defense team.

Duterte’s lead defense counsel, Shiela Sison, acknowledged Poa’s dual role, arguing it was natural for his perspective to align with the defense.

“It is a matter of record that the witness is part of the defense team and one of the lawyers of the Vice President, and it can be reasonably presumed that the witness will not provide on a plate the prosecution’s theory and conclusions,” Sison told the court.

The prosecution requested the hostile witness designation to press Poa on his role in addressing Audit Observation Memorandums (AOMs) issued by the Commission on Audit (COA) regarding DepEd’s expenditures.

Tolosa highlighted that Poa had previously admitted to lacking firsthand knowledge of how those funds were actually deployed before being tasked to handle COA’s audit inquiries.

“Why is it that the Vice President tasked one of her trusted aides to respond to the AOMs issued by the COA when he confessed that he knew nothing about it? That is very material,” Tolosa argued.

Clarifying his statement at Escudero's request, Tolosa explained that Poa had "no personal knowledge about how the confidential funds were, as he mentioned it, operationalized or used on the ground.”

The prosecution's line of questioning centers on the alleged misuse and improper liquidation of the P112.5 million in confidential funds—a core component of the first Article of Impeachment against the Vice President.

-Paraluman News