No conflict of interest in Michael Poa defending Sara Duterte in impeachment trial, says Escudero

Senate impeachment court presiding officer Francis "Chiz" Escudero on Wednesday ruled that lawyer Michael Poa has no conflict of interest in serving as defense counsel for Vice President Sara Duterte, despite his participation in a 2023 meeting with the Commission on Audit (COA) on the use of confidential funds. Escudero made the clarification on the 13th day of the impeachment trial after Senator-Judge Raffy Tulfo raised a point of order regarding Poa's role in the proceedings. "Kasi kahapon, nabanggit na si Atty. Poa, magaling na abugado siya, ay pumunta sa COA para makipag-usap tungkol doon sa sinasabing audit query," Tulfo said. (Yesterday, it was mentioned that Atty. Poa, who is a good lawyer, went to the COA to discuss the supposed audit query.) "Now, hindi ho ba conflict of interest 'yun para siya ay mag-represent dito ngayon sa pinag-uusapang confidential funds, when in fact, eh siya mismo pumunta doon sa COA office para makipag-usap sa kanila?" he asked. (Now, wouldn't that be a conflict of interest for him to represent the Vice President in the case involving confidential funds, considering that he himself went to the COA office to discuss the matter?) Tulfo was referring to the testimony of prosecution witness Roderick Wamil, a former state auditor with the COA Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (COA-ICFAO), who said on Tuesday that he attended a meeting with several former Department of Education (DepEd) officials, including Poa, who previously served as the agency's undersecretary, chief of staff, and spokesperson. The Senate impeachment court is currently hearing the prosecution's evidence on Article I of the Articles of Impeachment, which alleges that Duterte committed culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust over the alleged misuse of confidential funds during her tenure as vice president and as secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd). In his testimony on Tuesday, Wamil also said Office of the Vice President (OVP) chief of staff Zuleika Lopez and former COA-ICFAO head Nilda Plaras were present at the meeting. Responding to Tulfo, Escudero, however, said the respondent in the impeachment trial is Duterte—not Poa. "Atty. Poa, although he served under the Office of the Vice President, I believe, and even under DepEd, is not a named respondent to this case and is in fact one of the lawyers, as you can see, of the respondent," Escudero said. "I believe there is no conflict with respect to that given that he is not the one on trial in this case," he added. Poa then asked Escudero if he could be given a few minutes to provide context for the meeting, saying he had been alluded to during the proceedings. The presiding officer declined the request. "You will have the appropriate opportunity during your presentation of evidence in chief, if you choose to do so, to explain that meeting," Escudero told Poa.— MCG, GMA News