House subpoenas Poa, NBI in Duterte probe

The House Committee on Justice has issued subpoenas to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and a key aide of Vice President Sara Duterte as it continued its impeachment proceedings against her.

The panel directed the NBI to submit verified records in connection with the verbal death threats Duterte made against President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

It also requested any photographic evidence gathered during the investigation.

NBI director Melvin Matibag has been ordered to testify during the committee’s hearing on probable cause on 14 April.

The alleged threats were remarks Duterte made in November 2024 after the House detained her former chief of staff, Zuleika Lopez, for failing to respond to inquiries into the Vice President’s use of confidential funds.

In a Facebook video, Duterte said she had spoken to someone and instructed him that if she were killed, President Marcos, the First Lady, and Romualdez should also be killed. She emphasized that her statement was “no joke.”

The panel also ordered Atty. Michael Poa, former Department of Education chief of staff during Duterte’s tenure as education secretary, to appear before the committee. Poa is currently one of Duterte’s lawyers in the impeachment proceedings against her.

Poa has been asked to provide information on the alleged misuse of P112.25 million in confidential funds allocated to the Department of Education in 2023.