Sara Duterte's spokesperson confirms exit from OVP
MANILA, Philippines — Michael Poa, the spokesperson of Vice President Sara Duterte, has vacated his post at a time when her office is facing intense congressional scrutiny over its use of confidential funds.
The lawyer and former Education undersecretary bared this on Tuesday, November 5, during the House committee on good government and public accountability's fourth inquiry into the alleged misuse of funds by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and Department of Education (DepEd).
At the start of the hearing, Poa revealed that his contract as a consultant with the OVP had been pre-terminated.
"I would like to inform the honorable committee that I am no longer connected with the Office of the Vice President," Poa said.
Poa said the pre-termination of his contract, which was supposed to end in December 2024, was a "mutual decision" between him and Duterte.
"I expressed that I could not fulfill the obligations of the contract as a resource person. … Nawawala ang objectivity [There's no more objectivity]. So I said, 'I dont think I am capable of really fulfilling the contract.' She understands my position, so we mutually decided to pre-terminate it," he explained.
Acknowledging his exit, lawmakers sought Poa's insights as to why some OVP officials continued to snub the inquiry. Poa said he was only familiar with some of them, while he has met others briefly during budget inquiries.
The exact timing and circumstances surrounding the abrupt end to his contract were not immediately clear based on his House testimony.
Philstar.com has reached out to the OVP for comment and will update this article with their response.
Poa previously served as DepEd spokesperson when Duterte was education secretary from 2022 to June this year.
He was one of at least six ranking DepEd officials who tendered their resignation when Duterte stepped down as DepEd chief. Poa said that he resigned to give then-incoming Education Secretary Sonny Angara a free hand to choose the new members of his team.
He then returned as OVP spokesperson in August, just in time for the start of the legislative budget cycle.
Poa was Duterte's go-to crisis communicator, handling hot-button issues that have dogged the vice president over the past two years.
During this year's legislative budget season, Poa often faced the media to explain how the DepEd and OVP justified its confidential funds to the Commission on Audit. This is the issue that led Duterte to issue combative replies to House lawmakers during one House budget hearing.
RELATED: OVP budget hearing descends into chaos as Sara Duterte, House members trade insults
A key revelation from an earlier House good government probe involved Poa's role in gathering military certifications for the DepEd's liquidation of its confidential funds in 2023.
He admitted asking then-DepEd Undersecretary Nolasco Mempin, a retired general from Davao City, to obtain documents from military units related to its youth leadership summits to justify how DepEd spent its secret funds in 2023. DepEd under Duterte then presented these documents to state auditors and claimed these summits involved the use of DepEd's confidential funds.
Mempin admitted, however, that it was clear that no DepEd funds were used for the summits, which were funded by the military. The certifications were simply documenting the collaboration between different agencies, including DepEd.
He said he was also unaware that the certifications would be used by DepEd to justify payments to informers.
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