Atty. Michael Wesley T. Poa is prepared to testify in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte after the House prosecution panel asked the Senate impeachment court to call him as a witness.
The prosecution requested the issuance of a subpoena ad testificandum for Poa and Marizza B. Grande of the Philippine Statistics Authority, saying it wanted to maximize the schedule provided by the impeachment court for September 2.
Poa is expected to testify about the release and use of confidential funds of the Department of Education during Duterte’s tenure as education secretary. He said he sees no reason to oppose the prosecution’s request.
“Yung pag-testify ko nung pre-trial pa lang. Alam na namin yun. So, it’s expected. Wala namang akong problema doon,” Poa said.
Poa’s testimony had already been known during the pre-trial proceedings, according to his statement.
Grande is also among the witnesses the prosecution plans to present.
Meanwhile, the prosecution will no longer present Maj. Gen. Adonis Bajao as a witness. Senate Impeachment Court Presiding Officer Sen. Chiz Escudero said Bajao could instead be called first if the two other witnesses scheduled to testify on September 1 fail to appear.
Escudero said Poa is willing to testify and is already present, making it unnecessary to issue a subpoena for him.
“Given that Atty. Poa is here, and more than willing to testify as intimated earlier, then we jump to Atty. Poa should the other two earlier witnesses fail to appear on Sept. 1,” Escudero said.
The testimony places Poa before the Senate impeachment court as the prosecution seeks to question him regarding the confidential funds used by the Department of Education while Duterte was its secretary.
The proceedings will also include Grande among the prosecution’s witnesses, while Bajao has been removed from the current witness lineup.
