Sara Duterte impeachment trial: Key spokesperson to testify on confidential funds

The impeachment trial of Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte enters its 21st day with a familiar face from the defense team set to take the witness stand. Michael Poa, spokesperson for the defense panel, will be presented by the House prosecution team as its next witness on Wednesday. Poa is expected to testify on how the Department of Education (DepEd) disbursed P112.5 million in confidential funds during Duterte's tenure as Education secretary. He served as DepEd chief of staff and spokesperson when the agency was still under Duterte's leadership. On Tuesday, lawyer Justin Nicol Gular stated that Poa had temporarily stepped down from his role as defense spokesperson due to his status as a witness. This move is standard procedure to maintain the integrity of the proceedings. In addition to Poa, the prosecution has also requested the Senate impeachment court to issue a subpoena for Marizza Grande of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) to compel her attendance at Wednesday's trial. Grande is slated to be called as a witness after Poa's testimony. Both witnesses will undergo direct and cross-examinations from the prosecution and defense panels, respectively, and will also face interjections from the senator-judges. Their testimonies are crucial and will be in relation to Article 1 of the impeachment case, which accuses the Vice President of committing impeachable offenses due to the alleged systematic misappropriation and irregular liquidation of confidential funds amounting to P500 million released to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and P112.5 million released to the DepEd.